WE MADE IT!!!

We made it after a long and complicated trip. Here is what I wrote while we traveled...

Well, hello there! We are half way over the Atlantic Ocean as I write this and I must with all sincerity, this has not been a flawless journey. First the bad news… our flight was delayed almost two hours in Little Rock. No big deal, right? Well that made us 2 hours late getting into Chicago. We arrived at 5:05 with our flight leaving at 5:30 in a different terminal. We got off the plane with poor Henry running like the wind. After running down the wrong hallway, we turned around and just missed the tram. We waited for 5 minutes and hopped aboard. We had to check thru security, taking off the shoes and all. Luckily there was a man in a little buggy that gave us a ride to our gate. I was yelling down the terminal, “Hold the London plane! Hold the London plane!”
We jumped off just in time to see the runway detach from the plane. We begged, I mean BEGGED them to let us on. No go. They tried, but no go.
We were rebooked on a flight that left at 7:05 pm and arrived 45 minutes before our flight to Kolkata. Another rush job at the airport coming up. But… just as we were to leave the gate on our new flight, we have a wheel malfunction. We left an hour and a half late which, with the plane going full speed, puts us there at the time our plane to Kolkata is expected to leave. The next available flight thru British Airlines to Kolkata is TUESDAY. Or, if we miss it and are lucky, we fly Indian Airlines after sitting at the airport for 12-14 hours.
That is the bad news. The good news is that we are on our way. No airline, no airport, nobody is stopping us from getting our little girl! Put a million blockades, we’ll break ‘em down. WE ARE ON OUR WAY!!!!
We are 2814 miles to London and several thousand more to Tess, but everybody better get out of our way!
Henry is a world traveler. He has been very patience. The plane we are on is a 777 and has some space. Henry is lying down with Ellen in an empty row of seats. I am watching the movie Man of the Year with Robin Williams. We are tired but we are resolved.

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We are on the flight from London to Kolkata and the trip seems to be going much better. The flight from Chicago landed 10 minutes before the fight to Kolkata was to depart, but after running what seemed like 22 miles thru the airport, it had been delayed for over an hour and a half. We were able to catch our breath for a few moments before we took off again. I swear, it feels like a week ago when we left Little Rock. I asked Ellen, “are we going to make it?’… “Do we have a choice?”, she responded.
Henry was a little shaky after the first leg, but he had just woken up from a 4 hour nap. I have not slept now for 26 hours and I feel a little out of my mind. Ellen is going strong, as usual.
The one thing I keep coming back to is the people we are meeting. After I had several problems with Travelocity the last week, a customer service supervisor resolved an ongoing problem. He then said he was from New Delhi and was so happy with what we were doing. He gave me his personal number and said if we weren’t traveling on business, he wished to take everyone out for dinner.
Then today this young woman who works in Michigan and is going home to visit family in Kolkata was with us during the rough transfer in London. We talked for some time and she invited us to have dinner with her family in Kolkata! Amazing. I don’t think we had a clear idea of how people were going to react to us being here to adopt a child, but I have to tell you, everyone we have meet has showed so much compassion and thoughtfulness. The strength we will draw from the people of India will carry us through. I am honored to have my daughter with the history of this rich country coming home with us. I hope someday she will come to know the beautiful people who care so deeply for one another, even a few strangers from Arkansas.

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Ok, we are here! We made it (but our luggage didn't). It is 6 am and Ellen and I have not slept in over 36 hours and are about to go bananas. Our luggage is in London and will not be here until SUNDAY. We also did not have a driver there to pick us up as we requested. Kolkata at 4 am is quite. We expect to see something different tomorrow. We are planning to spend the next day here at the hotel trying to get over this jet-lag! I’m seeing things and have no extra clothes. Maybe I could wear this computer.

Parents and friends, we are safe and sound! Will write again after some rest. Thanks for the comments...keep 'em coming!