Gabe's Plane Day

Friday, November 30th, we celebrated Gabe’s Plane Day. This is the day he arrived home from Korea. Some people call it their Gotcha’ Day, but we think Plane Day is more appropriate for our family. Brian thinks it quite fitting for a man who has spent most of his adult life flying, that his children arrive by airplane.

The day Gabe arrived was so very different from Bessie’s Plane Day. I guess like actual birth, each child’s entrance into a family can be quite varied. We were so much more relaxed about Gabe’s homecoming. Of course, we were extremely excited and a bit nervous, but also confident in what we were doing and so much more prepared to welcome this little one home.

Mom and Dad once again accompanied us to the airport. This time around JFK airport in NY City was our destination. His flight was scheduled to arrive late afternoon. We arrived in with what we though was plenty of time only to discover that his plane had already landed. Fortunately he and his escort had to go through customs, so we did have a little bit of time to wait. There was another family who was also waiting to welcome home a little boy.

The liaison from our adoption agency was a young man of perhaps twenty. He was very upbeat and excited for us. We signed the appropriate paperwork while we waited, checked video cameras and regular cameras, talked and paced.

The liaison brought the two boys out, one in a front pack and Gabe in a stroller. Gabe had a thick head of hair and it was standing straight up! He was so cute and round and pudgy and adorable!

What a handsome little man

There were far fewer tears this time around and a lot more smiles. Bessie was so excited to have a baby brother and wanted to touch him and talk to him. Gabe pulled her hair, a sure sign of things to come. She thought he was perfect, we all did.

After only a few minutes, we bundled him up and headed for the car. I don’t think we were in the airport for more than 45 minutes. On the drive out of the city we were amazed how quickly it had all gone. We had our little boy, our little boy from halfway around the world, our son! God is so amazing how He pulls these things off.

The drive home took several hours. Gabe was pretty good in the car, but I don’t think carseats are as common in South Korea and he did not seem to appreciate being strapped in this contraption, especially with a bulky snowsuit on. It was quite cold that day. We stopped for dinner and a rest and he chugged his bottle eagerly. He slept the rest of the way home and stayed asleep for several hours. We left him in the carseat to sleep and Bessie slept on the floor next to him in the living room.

Big sister keeps a watchful eye

I can not believe that was nine years ago…it seems but a blink of the eye. What a blessing Gabe has been to our family.

So, how did we celebrate this year? We had pizza and showered Gabe with kisses and hugs all day and Bessie bought him a new video and we gave him a new computer game. At bedtime snuggle time, he and I talked and I told him how much he has grown and I got teary…he hates that, so I quickly snapped out of that and we talked about some of the funny things he did those first few weeks.

Gabe on his Gotcha' Day 2007

It was a good day, a day to celebrate the miracle of adoption, the adoption of our little man from across the world.