A Chinese-American Story of Love (Part VII - section 2)

By Douglas Wagganer

We arrived in Los Angeles and the Customs nightmare began. We had to walk several blocks down long hallways and down stairs to get to the U.S. Customs Area. We handed over our daughter's Visa and Immigration paperwork to a Customs Officer who took it to a processing desk. About 40 minutes passed before we were called to the desk and given a few forms and told our daughter's Permanent Resident Alien Card would be mailed to us in a few weeks. We then proceeded to the baggage claim area to pick up our bags.  It took about another 40 minutes to then get our bags. We were told that our flight had Live Monkeys in our flight's cargo hold. As a Consequence the U.S. Health Department Officials would not release anything from the plane until proper health inspections of all the Animals were completed. I understood the reasons for the delay, but at the time I was quite annoyed. I was tired and needed food and sleep, so Monkeys were an irritation I could have done without.

After getting our luggage we caught a shuttle bus to the local Hotel where we would be spending the night. It was a nice Hotel by most standards. In comparing it to all the Hotels we had stayed in China, it was a let down in quality. Room Service supplied Hamburgers, French Fries and Cokes. We all took showers and watched a little local television. Jane and I were ready for much needed sleep time, but Maribeth's little internal clock told her she was still on China time. That related to early morning playtime for her, so she remained quite active for several more hours. It was not a real problem staying up with her. It was a pure joy to watch her crawling about on top of our beds. She giggled and laughed and want to play with her Chinese Primer Blocks, so like a child myself I sat beside her doing my best to entertain her as sleep hung over my head like a large anchor. Maribeth was happy with us and that was all that mattered to both her parents.

We were up early the next morning. Taking the Hotel's Shuttle Bus, we arrived at the Airport several hour prior to our final departure flight. It was the final part of our journey; we knew that once in St. Louis our new family would finally be home. All our families and friends would be waiting for us at the Airport. The excitement of the upcoming days events were on our minds and in our discussions. Maribeth enjoyed fruit, a bottle and some pastry from a Starbucks Coffee Shop located near our terminal's waiting area.

As it got closer to our departure time from Los Angeles, several of the other adoptive families who had began the trip with us in St. Louis arrived at the gate for our final flight together. Everyone talked about what they had planned to do in the next few days after getting home. All agreed that sleep and relaxation were two items at the top of everyone's must do list. Soon our plane began boarding, and we were on our way to St. Louis. As that morning wore on into the early afternoon, we came closer and closer to homes. Our daughter's timetable told her it was sleep time, so she slept most of the way into St. Louis. The flight landed in a thunderstorm that afternoon. It seemed to greet us in some unofficial manner. It was a sort of fanfare apparently created by nature to welcome everyone back home from our dream trips to China. 

I will tell about our greeting at the Airport and our first day home in my next article. Thank you for reading and I wish everyone well.