Paul's Heart

Our “Super” Baby

There are events in your life that occur that you can recall where you were when they happened such as 9/11, the Space Shuttle Disasters.  Songs can often trigger memories of old boyfriends or girlfriends or perhaps vacations.  Aromas can remind you of Grandma’s cooking.  You might forget something your spouse just told you moments ago, honestly forgot, no really, it does happen.  But something that happened so long ago can help you to recall every minute detail.

Though I was born and raised in the Philly area, and raised on Philly sports teams, back in the early 80′s my choice in football teams to a very unusual turn from a fairly successful team in the Eagles, to a dismal, perrenial loser, the Seattle Seahawks.  I have been a diehard fan since 1981.  If I was lucky, I might get to see a playoff game every few years, and I was grateful for that.  The Super Bowl for me would become about the funniest commercial and pools.

In the 21st century, the Seahawks had finally turned things around, and were making regular trips to the playoffs.  They still did not go very far, but they were getting there, and it seemed more often than the Eagles, so I was not getting much grief my the team of my choice.

2005 was a very special year for Wendy and I.  We passed the one year mark required to wait to submit our paperwork to adopt a second child from China.  We basically had everything ready to go and just had to wait on the calendar.  In the Fall, the Seahawks were looking very good and pretty much dominated their devision.  This was a good diversion for me while we waited for the referral of our newest family member.  But by the end of December, it becamse clear that Seattle was a definite contender in the playoffs.

In early January the Seahawks had a bye in the first round, not having to play.  Later that week, a picture and information arrived about Emmalie.  While several of my co-workers were very happy for our daughter-to-be, they were actually more concerned talking football and how serious my Seahawks looked.  But my excitement for the team was definitely reserved.  The Seahawks have not really ever shown any real promise and I did not want to get my hopes up.  And then they won their next game.

They would face the Rams for the NFC Championship.  I am not known for making Joe Namath-like statements, but I was certain now that the Seahawks would be going all the way to the Super Bowl.  I told everyone, bet everything you have on the Seahawks over the Rams.  I was going to get walloped by Murphy’s Law with no chance of parole.  You see, I sent my paperwork signed just days before which meant we would be travelling to China soon to complete the adoption.  My gut told me, we were going to be travelling over the time period of the Super Bowl.  And that was why, after the Seahawks having never appeared in the Super Bowl in their existence, the Seahawks were going to be in that game.

And then the travel approval came, and yes, we were set to fly to Hong Kong on February 6th, the day of the Super Bowl.  New to the technology, but confident, I set our DVR, high definition for the Super Bowl.  I would watch it when I came back.  I dressed our then-three year old in a special Seahawk cheerleader outfit and then boarded the airplane with seemingly every other passenger wearing Pittsburg gear.  Though I requested Continental to carry the game on the plane, the airline said they could not.  Yet after we landed in Hong Kong, every passenger seemed to know the score.

Later that day, our Super Baby was placed into our arms.  When we got home, it turned out, that Wendy had DVRed all of her soap operas and something that I did not realize, that as the unit reached capacity of memory, the older programs automatically delete.  So when we returned home eleven days later, the memory of the DVR box sat at 65%, because it has dumped 45% of the memory that had been recorded of the Super Bowl.

So far it has been six years, and no more Super Bowls.  Just my Super Baby is growing up so quickly.  And she loves to sit with me watching the Seahawks.

“May Wan Tee”

“May Wan Tee”.  I am probably spelling it wrong, but this phrase is one that will stick with me forever.

In January of 2004, Wendy and I were notified that we had a daughter that we were going to be travelling to China to meet.  There were meetings to attend, forms to be signed, and monies to be prepared.  Most importantly, since we would be traveling out of the US, we felt that it would be in our best interest to notify our credit card banks about our plans in the event security checked in and shut done our cards because of activity in China.  This plan had been confirmed by many other families, especially with credit union banks.

And so our credit union was notified that we would be leaving for China on March 15 and planned to return two weeks later.  We were wished well, and the process continued.  On March 7th, we got a call from our adoption agency, travel time had been moved up and we would be leaving on the 13th now.  Of course we are all excited.  What an ”inconvenience” to leave for our daughter earlier?!?

So we arrive at Newark International and check in for our flight.  We bought three seats round trip to allow for our slightly larger than average needs, plus it gave us leg room.  Bringing Madison back using only three seats was not going to be a problem.  The problem occurred when we found out that not only were our three seats not next to each other, not only were we not seated next to our “open” seat that we purchased, but Madison’s seat was approximately fifteen rows in front of either one of us (who happened to be sitting on opposite sides of the airplane.  This was not a budget flight, this was a major international carrier.  After a panicked and irate phone call to our agency concerning this snafu, all was settled before we took off for Hong Kong.

I have mentioned two details now that do not coordinate with the original plans, and as you are about to read, they will have a major impact.  Once we land in Hong Kong, our entire travel group, consisting of nine other great families, meet our guide for this leg of the trip.  While Hong Kong is still considered part of China, it has its own government, currency, etc.  Are you with me yet?  First order of business is checking into the airport hotel.  We are recommended to do so quickly, and in spite of the thirteen hour time difference we must deal with, and the building excitement of our growing family, we need to get some sleep.  We will be a family with child tomorrow morning instead of two days from now as originally planned.  All we have to do is check in for tonight’s stay, and our return flight.  That is all.  Nothing more complicated than that.  Piece of cake.  Checked in plenty of times to a hotel.  English is spoken by the representative.  Yep, should be smooth sailing.

I hand him my credit union credit card.  He swipes it.  Wait for it…

“I’m sorry sir, card not working.”  I have been awake and on the road for nearly twenty hours.  But I know what I just heard.  Calmly, I asked him to try again.  He had to have done something wrong while swiping the card.

Here’s the pitch… just passes over the corner of the plate – STRIKE 2!  “I’m sorry sir, it is coming up declined again.”  ALL SYSTEMS… RED ALERT!  RED ALERT! ALL HANDS ON DECK!  OPEN THE TORPEDO DOORS!  Now I hit the panic button and do all that I can from jumping over the counter to swipe the card myself.  I urged him to try it again.  The card had to work.  I was told by the credit union that there would be no problem.  And finally, I struck out.  I was told for the third time, “declined.”

I called Ben, our guide, over to the counter and explained what was happening.  I had only $7500 in cash on me, $6000 which I needed for adoption proceedings and still had to buy our in-country flights, meals, and hotels.  And then Ben said it, “May Wan Tee.”  I said to him with a confused look, “What?  English Ben.”  Ben replied, “no worries.”  He was right.  My credit card was not working.  I was going to run out of cash in less than 24 hours.  Still had to buy meals.  All this while I was preparing for one of the most beautiful times in my life.  Why should I be worried?

The most reasonable thing to do at this point, with less than ten hours now until we met Madison, was to try and get some sleep.  Trying to save cash, eating was not a priority at the moment.  And with the time difference, it was already Saturday afternoon here in the US, so the credit union was already closed for the next day and a half.  How was I going to communicate and get this straightened out?  I had a calling card, but that was supposed to last me the entire trip and the minutes would be used up before even getting an answer and solution to this problem.  I decided to try using the internet and reach Wendy’s mom, giving her all releveant numbers and who to contact.  There was one representative at the credit union who knew me personally, and knew I was in China and could clearly help and I would have Wendy’s mom see her.

By the time we headed for the provincial capital city Nanchang, it was evening in the US, 10am in China.  And we boarded a flight to Nanchang.  We arrived at the beautiful Jiangxi Hotel where our current guide, De had us register.  As all the other families took turns doing so, I approached De soon to realize his English was not as good as Ben’s, but I gave it an effort anyway.  I explained everything so far that has happened.  And then… “May Wan Tee.”  Aw, come on!  You too?!?  And then De pulled out his credit card, put it on the counter, and the desk person took the card, and handed me keys to our room.  Just like that.  I knew De a total of five minutes, literally.

His kindness and belief in “May Wan Tee” taught me alot that day.  I was in a foreign country, very little to no English spoken, no credit card, and very limited cash, with two other people I was responsible for, all for the next eleven days, and I was told not to worry.  His favor to me allowed me time to communicate back home, even with the time difference.  It took three more days to resolve, but I was able to do it without worrying.  It all worked out, no worries.  May Wan Tee.