If I Only Knew Then What I Know Now
Last week we celebrated the "Gotcha Day" for my sister-in-law Graycee. For those of you not in the know of adoption vernacular, Gotcha Day is a second birthday of sorts for adoptive families remembering the day that families and children are united. We had the incredible experience of being in that chaotic room on that gray/brown day in Changsha, Hunan, China where half a dozen dazed infants were placed in the eager hands of laughing-while-crying adoptive families.
That was 2005.
Obviously that trip impacted my life more than I knew at the time. My wife wanted me to make a scrapbook type photo book chronicling that trip. Once I began writing about the experience it happened quickly that words pushed out photos - it turned out that I had a lot to say.
In celebrating Graycee's Gotcha Day last week we pulled out that booklet and revisited our trip. I read some things that I had written 8 years ago and was shocked at the unintentionally prophetic nature of those words. Here are some direct quotes from the booklet.
"I cannot believe I was a 1 hour taxi ride from the Great Wall of China and didn't see it. All that means is that I now have to go back. We officially spent less than 24 hours in Beijing - about 16 to be exact. What a tease! We traveled halfway around the world to Beijing - Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City, the Great Wall, Mao's Mausoleum, the Summer Palace, the cultural and political center of the largest and most fascinating nation in the world - and had to do it all in 16 hours."
"...I also couldn't get over how brown Beijing was."
"I don't think I could ever get enough of China. We didn't eat enough Chinese food, I didn't learn enough of the language, we didn't get to experience enough of the culture, we didn't get to learn enough of their history..."
Update: I have now been to the Great Wall 10 times. I spent almost 4 years in Beijing. I still can't get over how brown Beijing air is. I still haven't gotten enough of China, haven't eaten enough Chinese food, learned enough of the language, experienced enough of the culture, etc.
That was 2005.
Obviously that trip impacted my life more than I knew at the time. My wife wanted me to make a scrapbook type photo book chronicling that trip. Once I began writing about the experience it happened quickly that words pushed out photos - it turned out that I had a lot to say.
In celebrating Graycee's Gotcha Day last week we pulled out that booklet and revisited our trip. I read some things that I had written 8 years ago and was shocked at the unintentionally prophetic nature of those words. Here are some direct quotes from the booklet.
"I cannot believe I was a 1 hour taxi ride from the Great Wall of China and didn't see it. All that means is that I now have to go back. We officially spent less than 24 hours in Beijing - about 16 to be exact. What a tease! We traveled halfway around the world to Beijing - Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City, the Great Wall, Mao's Mausoleum, the Summer Palace, the cultural and political center of the largest and most fascinating nation in the world - and had to do it all in 16 hours."
"...I also couldn't get over how brown Beijing was."
"I don't think I could ever get enough of China. We didn't eat enough Chinese food, I didn't learn enough of the language, we didn't get to experience enough of the culture, we didn't get to learn enough of their history..."
Update: I have now been to the Great Wall 10 times. I spent almost 4 years in Beijing. I still can't get over how brown Beijing air is. I still haven't gotten enough of China, haven't eaten enough Chinese food, learned enough of the language, experienced enough of the culture, etc.
Comments
Post a Comment