Coming back to the U.S. from Seoul, Korea we often had orphans on board, escorted by volunteers. Most of these orphans were babies.
On one particular flight we had three volunteers with two babies each! Talk about a hand full! One particular baby girl was extremely fussy. After our service I asked if I could walk her a bit, perhaps calm her down.
The escort said the baby refused the bottle, and was concerned she would dehydrate if she wouldn't take liquids.
This baby girl was beautiful! Her thick black hair stood straight up like a mohawk. As I walked her she continued to fuss. I passed through a galley and picked up a glass of water. The little one grabbed the glass and began to drink! Ah! She wasn't used to a bottle!
I let her drink as much as she wanted. Then swayed back and forth with her as I gently rubbing her feet. She snuggled right in to my arms and closed her eyes. I gave her back to her escort once she fell asleep and took another baby to walk. I was in my glory!
Once the beautiful mohawk haired little one woke up she fussed again. Whenever I walked by her she held out her arms. I would again take her. Yep- I lost my heart! Oh my!
And so the 12 1/2 hour flight went, with me holding babies when I wasn't serving. But there was something about this "Mohawk" baby girl that stole my heart! Perhaps because she was feisty, or the way she looked into my eyes like she already knew me. It was a strange connection!
At one point she cried and clung to me as I went to hand her back to her escort. Sort of broke my heart! I scolded myself for getting attached.
When we landed in Detroit the escorts waited until after the other passengers had deplaned. They would be taken through customs with their precious charges, then the babies would be given to their adopted parents.
As I left the Customs area I passed by the families who were waiting for the babies. Some families held balloons and signs. I saw a young couple with a sign that said their baby's name on it. They were the new parents of the "Mohawk baby"!
I let them know she would only drink from a glass- and how beautiful she was!
Then I stood off on one side and watched as they were introduced to their new baby! Tears ran down my face! It was a beautiful sight! An agent walked passed- saw me crying and said "Good grief- go home!" .....I didn't expect him to understand.
I've wondered from time to time what became of that beautiful little girl and her new parents.
Some connections we make seem to stay with us!
Until next time, Dear Readers!
Life Is Indeed An Adventure! And Brief Connections Can Stay With Us For The Rest Of Our Lives!
4 comments:
such a touching story...love your blog!
Dear LaRae- Thank You for your comment! I'm so glad you like my stories! Thank you for following along down memory lane!
Lovely story, I too, had that experience with the Asian orphans. I cried as well as all the parents greeting their new little ones. I also wonder what happened to all those Baby Lift babies. I wonder if they have a FB page?
Dear Unknown Reader- Thank you for your comment! I've wondered also how the orphan's lives turned out! I know they were greeted with love and excitement!
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