On the verge of Leaving

Robert here, it's 9:30 pm on Thursday evening and we are on the verge of our departure. The bags are packed and the brown envelope is in hand. That is, of course, The Brown Envelope, the one that is sealed and not to be opened until we go through customs in Seattle. It is Matt's visa and citizenship paperwork. We rise and shine at 05:00, luggage ready at 06:00 and in the lobby to board the bus at 06:30. That would be 3:30 pm Thursday afternoon back home. We are all ready to be home. Tonight we had our last dinner with the group, at least the ones still here. It was at this fun Thai resturant called the Bannana Leaf. They had a group of singers that went around to the various tables and sang and had a fun time with the customers. They pick Country Roads by John Denver to sing at our table and the whole gang joined in for a rousing and loud rendition.

As we are packed and ready there are a lot of thoughts that go through my head. Thoughts of all we have gone through while here and of course many thoughts of the road ahead. Matt is a very active boy and tomorrow will be quite the adventure. He has gone through so much in such a short time. And now he is about to go through a whole new set of changes including a change in surroundings. He will no longer be around people who look and speak like he does. The smells will be different and the climate will be totally different, but he will be home. It will not seem to him to be home at first but in time it will be the only home he really remembers. We still have a long row to hoe as they say, but I sure am looking forward to hoeing that row in the good ole USA. China is a great place to visit but not my idea of a place to live. No offense meant to the 1.3 billion who call it home, but I will take the Dri-cities everytime. And yes I do look forward to buying a Dr. Pepper as soon as possible once back. That has been one of the most difficult parts about this trip, sure, there's Coke and Pepsi o-plenty, but not a drop of DP to be found. The lack of DP and the opressive humidity, oh yes and the squaty potties, are the things I will look forward to putting behind me once we hit the home base. I have enjoyed the people we have met along the way. The people here in our adoption group have been great to get to know. They all have interesting and inspiring stories of how they got to this point. The guides both here and Nanchang have been great and this hotel here in Guangzhou is truly 5 star. I also loved meeting Matt's foster family, little Philip, and the whole New Day crew. The folks at New Day are the true heroes fighting in the trenches on the front line. Though they don't have weapons and don't shoot at the enemy, they are soldiers just the same, fighting for the lives of these little people who need their efforts in the worst way. I will always be eternally grateful to them for my son. Well, I better close before I get all mushy. Let me just say, thank you all for your support and I may have a hard time falling a sleep as I ponder the grand trip home. What a great place to be. Signing off from China for the last time......At Your Service, RSE

PS from Mel --As pictures have been tough to post, we will recap the journey over the next several weeks. Between Rob and I we have close to 1,000 digipics, so, stay tuned.