Gotcha day, some looking back 1/29/2013

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11 Feb 2007: Safely and Happily Home

From halfway around the world, over 28 hours from 4:30 a.m. wake-up call to touchdown in Boston at 7:00 p.m., we journeyed home with AiLi. Thanks to the vagaries of time zones, we departed China on Wednesday, February 7 and arrived back in North America on the same day. Considering the distance, her age and experience, AiLi did extremely well, awake most of the time but not disturbing any other passengers. Her sleepy mother spent the lion’s share of the trip with her daughter, with occasional respite care by Daddy Ira, Auntie Susan and Great Cousin Marilyn. (No upgrade this time, unfortunately, and we were seated in various locations around the plane.) By Chicago, our entry point to the U.S., we were all suffering from frayed nerves, exhaustion, cramped muscles and too many line-ups, but the voyage was relatively smooth with no airline delays, thankfully.

We were thrilled to be greeted at Logan by a surprise delegation of the Driscoll family: Karen’s brother Sean and his wife Joan, with daughters Siobhan (3) and Nora (1); and Karen’s brother Fran, who had just flown in from D.C. We were caught unprepared and so have no photos of this wonderful welcoming committee with their beautiful hand-made signs, smiling faces and warm, enthusiastic hugs. They also brought gifts and food, and made our arrival a true celebration. Thank you so much for your thoughtfulness!!!!

As we have been getting over our jet lag these past three or four days, AiLi continues to thrive. She has had her first visit to the pediatrician, Dr. Whitman, who has diagnosed her to be in fine form and likely to make rapid progress both in terms of her growth and intellectual development. She is smiling a lot, imitating sounds, gestures and facial expressions with enthusiasm, learning to play with her toys and sleep in her own room. Her particular favorite is the toy piano, which provides ample opportunity for banging on the keys while producing beautiful music. (This was one of Daddy’s best finds at the exchange area of the Wayland dump, batteries included.)

Cousin Marilyn and Auntie Susan both left on Thursday, sorry to say good-bye to AiLi and feeling so lucky to have been included in this miraculous and uplifting experience. Like all of you, we will watch AiLi’s development with interest and affection, and hope that the opportunities to get together come often and come soon.

We love you, AiLi! Thanks for blessing our lives with your sweet presence. As Charles Dickens said, “It is no small thing to be loved by one so fresh from God.”

Auntie Susan

6 Feb 2007: Homeward Bound!

Our last day in Guangzhou and China has dawned. It has been an incredible and exhilerating journey, first and foremost because of the addition of AiLi to our family, but also because of the amazing opportunity we’ve had to experience three fascinating areas of this vast, energized and exciting country.

Since arriving in Guangzhou late Friday evening, AiLi has been blessed by a monk at the Temple of the Six Banyans; we’ve taken a sunset dinner cruise on the Pearl River, the buildings on the shore lit with spectacular brilliance; heard Chinese opera sung under the bridge leading to the hotel, with accompaniment by traditional instruments; and shopped till we dropped at the Pearl Market and area stores and street stalls, of which there are thousands, if not millions.

Most important, all of AiLi’s US visa processing has been completed. She will become an official American citizen as soon as she passes through Immigration and Customs in Chicago at 11:44 a.m. Central Time on Wednesday, February 7.

Though we leave China with some regret and a firm intention to return, we are all looking forward to getting home, sharing our pictures, observations and memories with all of you, and, most important, introducing you to our darling AiLi, who is everyday growing, blossoming and becoming Ira and Karen’s daughter.

Auntie Susan

It’s not about me anymore.

It is a most humbling experience, to say the least, to be led into a room and handed a child who will be totally dependent upon you for the next few decades. To witness the anguish in the childs face as she sees the nanny who has taken care of her for the past 18 months give her a last hug and kiss, walk out the door and vanish from her life forever.

She may never remember this happening to her, but the image will be with me for the rest of my life.

This blog was started to give AiLi a record, and share with our friends and family, our experience of her adoption and travel back to the place I hope she will accept as her home. I want it to also convey the love many people have shown for her and all of the children who are searching for happy endings. It is meant to give her a small picture of the world she came from and perhaps encourage her to return with a curiosity for what, by then, it has become.

For Karen and I this will truly be the trip of a life time, more challenging, rewarding and life changing than any dive trip!

We have already begun to experience the rewards of knowing AiLi, witnessing her personality blooming over the past week, her recognition of us as people she knows and not anymore as strangers.

And, her smiling and laughing, more and more and more.

As I begin to get anxious to return home and get back to familiar patterns and daily routines, it’s obvious to me that those things have forever been changed.
For Aili those daily routines and patterns have also been changed forever.

She is no longer an orphaned little girl with no home.

Papa Ira