Remembering Part 3

The 20th...the day started off with a lot of concern and frustration on our part. The US government was going to allow visa's to be issued, however we were asked by the Joint Counsel to stop petitioning for security, transportation, and water for the Embassy, to provide a safe place for the children to come and be evacuated out. So we knew they could come home, but the US Government would not be providing a safe haven for them during the process. It's easy to pass judgement on the US Government for this decision. However, as time has gone by and given me perspective, I see that they would have been making an empty promise. There was children evacuated out by the US, and they were waiting at the embassy and escorted out on US aircraft. However, to offer to provide this to hundreds, possibly over a thousand children, was not possible. I'm grateful now that they let GLA know they would have to provide their own transportation. It was really God not answering the prayer, knowing much better what the other options were.
The other exciting news was that another orphanage had evacuated orphans out successfully. BRESMA set the precedent that these kids could get on a plane, and be transported out safely, and be admitted into the United States.
I'm going to give you a run-down of the emails we received, followed by our reactions and what we were doing that day. Some of it is painful to remember, some is full of JOY. It's going to be pretty honest, and unedited.
6:52am -Do not panic...wait for word on what to do. We will let you know as soon as we can... Coming into MIA might not be the way this works out, so please do not make any plans. I promise we will let you know what to do-just stand by.
A few minutes later - And pray without ceasing and trust Dixie.
We fought the instinct to make plans. We check out tickets to all the major airports on the east coast, bookmarking the major ones. We continued to wrap up arrangements here. Work, kids, and all those little details. R left to work, kids left for school. It was crazy busy, and we knew we were just killing time. We were confident it would happen, just didn't know the when. I started to really think of the list that NEEDED to get done before we brought them home, and then prioritized it. I jumped every time the phone beeped with a new email or facebook post.
At 8:48am-PLEASE do NOT post to the Internet just yet - Dixie will be making an "official" announcement on the website and we ask that you keep this quiet until at least then. ATTENTION ALL US FAMILIES: The US Embassy has issued "humanitarian parole" visas for all our children in the adoption process to US families. This means we are sending the children out tomorrow (Thursday) on a flight to Fort Lauderdale Florida. We do not have specific flight details yet, but will let you know when we do. We need ALL families to come to Fort Lauderdale by tomorrow to pick up your child! Please bring supplies for your child - diapers, clothes, bottles, shoes, etc... Sorry, we do not have time to send out sizes to everyone, so just do your best guess.
This sent our hearts racing, and minds reeling. We called each other, and just were over the moon. OUR kids had visa's. Re and Er had a visa. They were coming home, and by the next day. We were holding our breath for a official GO. We notified family and friends. We started to get bags packed. I started to mark off things on the list that would never be accomplished. I moved getting coats and shoes for them, as well as travel supplies to the very top of the list. I started to make a plan for the day. I needed to meet a friend at the outlet, and needed to get shoes and coats. Part of the heartbreak of the day, in all honesty, came into this part of the day. I called our church to let them in on what was happening. I called a very good friend of mine. She told me she'd come be with me for the morning. Our friendship had been strained for awhile for various reasons, however I felt she'd be a great support while my mind was kinda racing out of control. I made plans to leave and meet another friend, based on her showing up at a certain time. I waited over a half an hour past the time we were suppose to leave, and she hadn't showed up. I left a note, and raced out the door. I was very saddened and disappointed by this friends actions. By the time I realized she wouldn't be coming, I didn't have time to figure out another option, leaving me by myself for the morning. This person had insisted she was there for me, and at one time we were best friends. It was disheartening. I was already overwhelmed, and I had no ability to filter my reaction when she texted me later, or even when it played out later. One of the lessons I learned through this experience is to ask help of those who are showing up, not those you'd like to show up, or feel should show up. I had many other friends who would have been there in five minutes. However, I quickly held onto a friendship that hadn't worked in a long time, wishing it wasn't strained. It was a sad part of the day, and still makes me sad.
Anyways, onto the rest of the day. I bought coats, shoes, and after a run to Target, had all the travel supplies we needed. I picked up paint samples for the kids rooms. I stopped off at a friends, to deliver paint samples. I came home for nap time, and to pack. I somehow managed to get R and I a couple changes of clothes together, and the kids bags packed.
While I was out and about I got these emails...thankful for Internet on a phone. Otherwise I'd have been stuck at home.
10:22am-Please stand by and be ready to travel… but please hold off until we know final travel details… I know this is hard, but we don’t want any false alarms… We will let you know as soon as we know the plan! BUT… BE OVERJOYED!
11:21am-UPDATE - We still do not have specific flight details. We are working on it and will let all of you know just as soon as we get the details.
In the meantime, it may be best NOT to purchase tickets yet. Please put tickets "on hold" or buy fully refundable ones - as plans for the day and/or city may yet change.
We will let you know just as soon as we can!
12:12pm- Just wanted to let you know that we need you to be on stand by and ready to come to Florida, but do not buy tickets yet until we notify you. We are still not sure of the date or location the children will be coming to, but we will let you know as soon as we do. Dixie is asking that you not call the orphanage or email, but wait until you are notified. If you need to call me, you can call the Colorado office. Thanks for your patience, I understand how you are feeling!
We continued to hold off on tickets. We were at a disadvantage being on the west coast. We had the farthest to go. It takes at least 12 hours to get from here to there. We knew we needed to leave that night if they were coming in the next night. We figured we needed to be on a plane by 11:00pm, if we were to hit the east coast by the next morning. We figured we could wait until 6:00pm to buy tickets. We had friends, who is a pilot in Florida, who offered to fly us anywhere on the east coast we needed to go, if we got to them. We figured we'd fly to Miami, be there in the morning, and then get to where the kids were. But we needed to get to the right side of the States before the next morning. It was nerve wracking. I doubted moment to moment if we should already be in the air. And yet, I knew it would do no good to get halfway to the wrong place. At about 4:20pm, R's mom stopped by to get instructions for the daycare, and the girls. I had daycare parents picking up that I was informing of the plan. It was a general mess around here. I had a couple friends dropping stuff off, and was trying to finish up packing so we could leave quickly.
At 4:42 pm- OK - Official news - The children will be arriving into Miami, Florida tomorrow late evening. The plane is scheduled to depart Haiti at around 7pm (and if it departs on time, will arrive in Miami around 9pm). Once we arrive, the children will be taken to another facility (I do not yet have the specific location), which is where you will be able to pick up your child. However, because of the late hour and the time it will take to get all the children through Immigration and settled, it's looking like most likely (although not definite yet) that we will have families pick up children the next morning. We need ALL families to go to the Miami, Florida area tomorrow. Get a hotel room there, let us know where you will be staying and how to reach you. And we will contact you once we have specific information on how to pick up your child. Please confirm with me that you've gotten this message so that we can be sure you will be there to get your child. Use this email address until tomorrow morning. After 10am eastern time, please use: (no longer important). All families - please be sure to print off all information that you emailed to Joint Council and the State Department. They are saying that these papers will be needed when picking up your child.
Also all families please be sure to bring necessities for your child - clothes, shoes, diapers, bottles, formula, etc... We will not be bringing much with us from Haiti.

I read this and my heart stopped momentarily. It was really happening. Even as I was packing our bags, I was hesitant to really get too excited. I was still holding my breath. I held my breath a looongg time, but I exhaled just a bit in that moment. Immediately, I booked tickets to Miami. We needed to leave in less than 5 hours. R walked into the door of chaos and confusion. We both had things to wrap up before we left, so I headed out for last minutes errands. The girls were a little freaked out at this point, and we had to remind ourselves to slow down and explain what was happening to them. Whatever exhaustion I had felt was gone, and the adrenaline was pumping.
We left our house at 9:00pm. A little bit more than 4 hours after the official go. One day after requesting visa's. It was all a little crazy. Okay, alot crazy. We had many moments where we just looked at each in disbelief. There was a moment at the airport as we waited to board our flight where I just stared at the kids bags, trying to comprehend that we'd be holding them very soon. That the clothes I'd packed, they'd get to wear. I'd be dressing them in it to come home. It was a shocking thought process.
We boarded the plane somewhere around 11:00pm. We flew through the night. We laid over twice, because you don't get to be picky when you book flights 4 hours before you board. We tried to get some sleep. We landed in Miami about 11:00am the next morning.
I'll leave it there for now. The next 48 hours were a wild ride. And I've covered them in detail before. I may go back and fill in some of the gaps.