We traveled three hours to Logan Airport in Boston, MA on that day. Mom and Dad had come with us. We were surprised at the airport to find Sue, Rob, Arolyn and Meredith waiting for us. They had driven down from NH to welcome Bessie home.
The flight was scheduled for 10:20pm, but never arrived until just before midnight. I can remember being so excited that I thought I might faint. My heart was pounding and the anticipation was tremendous.
They let all the other people off the airplane first. Several people beamed and commented on how cute the babies where. (There was another baby coming at the same time.) One woman stayed and said she had held Bess all the way from Detroit and what a little doll she was.
Finally they came out with our little treasure and we were overjoyed. I cried. We cooed over her and held her and patted her little head which had very little hair. She was so curious and looked around at everyone.
What a night that was. The woman who had escorted the babies here did not speak any English and because it was so late she was very confused about what to do next. She was continuing to Tampa the next day to visit her son, but didn't have any arrangements for staying anyplace for the night. Thanks to a nice maintenance man who was still in the airport, we were able to get the the number of a phone interpreter who was able to help us understand the situation. We made arrangements for a local hotel to come pick her up and make sure she got back in the morning. It was after 1:00am before we finally left.Bess was good in the car on the way home, but fussed some at begin in a car seat. It was 5:00am before we finally made it back home. We had a 9am appointment with the pediatrician. We didn't get much sleep that day, which was Friday. Overnight and the next day it snowed and snowed and snowed. We had one of the worst snowstorms ever on March 13, 1993. We were house bound for several days. If I remember correctly we received 31 inches of snow in that storm. And thus began our life with Bess.
Fourteen years later
8 comments:
I just blubbed to read that. See what you did, Bess? You made a grown woman cry!
Happy Plane Day!
Dorothy
You weren't alone, Dorothy! I was right there with you! Wonderful story, Deb. I love how you celebrate everyone's "Plane Day." ~Lisa
What a sweet retelling of a wonderful memory! Isn't that the most bizarre experience when someone hands you a baby and says, "Here-this is yours-forever. No instructions, just go in peace." I think it's even weirder for us adoption folk than for women who carried a baby for 9 mon. But what a precious moment it is!
I'm blubbering! What a blessing you are Bess....
Debbie, I have a local friend who has been trying for years to adopt. They have been told their paperwork has now all been submitted - Russia, I think. I shared with her about your plane day celebrations and she cried and said she can't wait to do the same.
addme too-blubbering. That was such a great story, what great memories. Happy Plane Day Bess!!!!!!
Aw, Debbie, this gave me goose bumps and made me tear up. New baby stories are just the GREATEST! I love that you added the plane day pics. Great post!
Well, Dorothy and Lisa, I cried also. Being adopted myself, it really touched me as I imagined my Mama's emotions of holding me for the first time while I was looking at the pictures of your face, Debbie.
Debbie & Bess,
I'm a little late reading these comments, but I'm SO glad I kept going back in your blog to get caught up with y'all. I would NOT have wanted to miss this very precious memory!
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