Saturday, August 28, 2010

Twenty six years ago

Twenty six years ago tonight -- a sultry August night typical of the East Coast -- I was sitting with my (then) husband Bob in JFK airport.  Next to me sat my fully-stocked diaper bag complete with a bottle of soy formula.  But no baby. Sitting right behind us we spied another couple with a similarly stocked diaper bag -- and no baby.

We greeted each other -- sure enough, we were all waiting for the time when we would be ushered into a deserted gate in the terminal, in preparation for the delivery of our babies.

That's right, my baby daughter was delivered in a gate at JFK airport.

She was delivered by a chaperone who carried her off the plane that had brought some thirty babies all the way from South Korea.

Prior to the delivery, I'd been pacing the floor, talking to one of the other mothers-to-be. Suddenly the babies appeared through the door from the jetway, and sixty parents converged on the group.  Each baby had an armband identifying him/her by name together with the name of the new parents.  I'd have known her anywhere already, though, because I'd spent many hours looking at the two photographs that we'd been sent since her birth in May. 

Abbi had been named Eun Hee Kim at her birth.


Abbi came off the plane grinning the irresistible toothless grin of a three-month old. She was instantly delighted with us and we with her.

And we've been delighted ever since.

Abbi, about 15 years old, appearing in the Nutcracker.



Summer 2010 in the mountains of Utah.



Happy Anniversary, Abbi!

Love,
Mama

5 comments:

Karen said...

Precious! So glad you're here, Abbi!

Joyce said...

Awww...families are just the best : )

abigail catherine said...

Best blog post, Mama. I love you so much and am so blessed and happy that you are MY Mama. I miss you -- I can't WAIT until November!

Christy Duffy said...

I love these pictures! I have a similar picture of my niece that we stared at for months and months before she arrived. I still have it on my fridge, five years later.

Happy gotcha day!

Anonymous said...

Great story and some of us are very glad that you and Catherine got together!