A week I will never forget--Part 1

It all started Friday, November 16th. It was the day of Lydie & Samson's visa appointments at the US Embassy in Haiti. We had booked our flights and plans were made to fly our children home the following Friday, November 23rd.

It was mid afternoon and I was strolling along in Target making last minute purchases. We were going to spend the weekend and Monday and Tuesday of the following week putting the final preparations into our home and packing for our trip. Because our flights ended up being fairly reasonably priced, both of my parents decided to travel to Haiti with us to help us bring them home. As I'm pondering all of the things I needed to do before we left, my cell phone rang. It was our adoption agency and they didn't have good news for us. Our adoption agency said the embassy was needing another original power of attorney document so Pierre could sign for us. They also needed 4 passport sized photos of each of us.

I got off the phone and called Stephen immediately. I quickly checked out at Target with only half my purchases made and headed to his work. I picked him up and we headed to Walgreens to have passport photos taken. Then we went to our bank to sign another power of attorney document in front of a notary. We had asked our agency if the POA had to be certified as all other documents we've ever sent to Haiti needed to be certified and they told us no. We later found out the embassy would not have accepted the power of attorney document without it being certified. We went to FedEx and paid the fee to have our document delivered as fast as humanly possible. The fastest they could get it there was Tuesday the following week.

It was starting to feel as the day progressed that our dream of having the kids home for Thanksgiving was slipping through our fingers. Our flights had been purchased and to change them now would be a huge financial blow. I couldn't even think at this point. We had planned on having one more date night and neither one of us could even think straight. We sat in Panera pondering our options. Stephen felt the need to leave for Haiti as soon as possible. I could hardly bare the thought but deep down I knew he was right. I couldn't stop crying. This wasn't they way I imagined it was going to be.

The next morning we both woke up with a peace in our hearts that Stephen needed to leave for Haiti immediately. We called American Airlines and had his flight switched to the next day, Sunday, November 18th. He started packing like a madman and I tried to stay focused on the task at hand. We were able to book the flight that would allow him to get to Haiti Sunday night. We went to bed early and drove off to the airport early the next morning. It was a quick goodbye and he was off. I tried my best to ignore the huge hole in my heart. It's very hard for me to be apart from my other half, but I knew it must be this way. We would be reunited on Thursday in Haiti.

I had been invited to go to church by Ron & Lora that morning. I was so glad they did, because I needed to be with people. As I walked in their house at 6:30 that morning, I met Lora at the door and just lost it.  I'm so grateful for our friends. While we were in church I received a text that Stephen had made it to Chicago and was on the flight headed for Miami. They had to return to the gate because some lady needed medical attention so they had to let her off the plane. He was nervous about making his connection to Haiti. Ron & Lora's church congregation prayed for us. It was so comforting.

I headed home feeling like a zombie. When I got home I hopped on my computer and watched the flight tracker as I dozed off to sleep. He made it to Miami with enough time to spare to board his PAP flight. Praise the Lord. Stephen boarded his flight for PAP but then a very familiar experience happened. The plane experienced mechanical problems (something to do with a headlight) and he ended up being stuck on the plane for 2 hours without going anywhere. The flight ended up being cancelled.......

To be continued...