The Mummaus: 37. The Countdown Begins

For Earlier Posts, See Below

I rounded the car and embraced my father-in-law. The conversation had been sparse to say the least on the early morning drive to the Greensboro airport. The usual excitement of travel had long since been drained from this trip to Guatemala. The uncertainty of whether or not Kristina and Mia would return weighed to heavily upon us to have any enthusiasm at all. By now uncertainty was simply doubt and cynicism toward the system that held us apart. Now with our lawyer telling us he felt a month would be a good estimate for an early return home, my father-in-law quietly bid me farewell and sent his love to his girls. Back in his car, I watched him drive into the traffic and disappear as I began pulling the luggage into the terminal.

The chill of the March morning had finally left me by the time I arrived in Atlanta. As usual, my gate was changed a couple times before I was finally able to sit comfortably in the chair at the gate. I picked up my camera and passed the time fiddling with the settings.

The ride from Atlanta to Guatemala City went fairly well. It went well, that is, until the captain instructed the attendants to take their seats immediately. They quickly pushed the carts to the back and were barely in their seats when the plane seem to go off road. It felt as though it hit some airborne dirt road and flew through it for about 10 minutes. Afterward, as the many confessions were concluding in the seats throughout the plane, we noticed our descent to Guatemala City had begun. Regardless of how many times, or how futile things seemed, I never have lost my sense of awe in gazing at the mountains, the valleys, and of course the volcanoes which make Guatemala such an incredible country.

Upon arriving and clearing customs, which is thankfully a short process, Kristina met me in the mass of humanity that awaits outside the doors of the airport. We quickly manuevered our way through the many hands so eager to help us. In the car and on our way, Kristina said “Mia needs some new shoes.” Wow it felt like a normal conversation…except in a distant country where we pay for things in Quetzales!

I looked at Kristina and said “I’m going to bring you home next week.” With a faint smile she chuckled and kept driving. Our lawyer just barely had Mia’s new birth certificate in hand and he honestly wasn’t sure what came next…though he probably wouldn’t tell you. Somehow, someway, I was determined that this was the last trip to Guatemala I would make solo.

“I will take you girls home…”

The Mummau Series
1. Choosing To Adopt
2. Why International? Why Guatemala?
3. The Call From Guatemala
4. The Process Begins
5. A Prelude To Mia
6. How Can You “Choose” A Child – Leaving Others Behind?
7. Peer Into The Heart – Journal Entries
8. Meeting Maria – Finding Mia
9. Leaving Our Daughter…is that…no way!
10. Rivers of Waiting
11. Mistakes, Intentions, and Naivety – How Hope Began To Die
12. Alone in Guatemala and Waiting
13. Time Marches On – Goodbye Mia for Now
14. Joyful Gringos in Quetzaltenango
15. Mia Mia
16. Abuela Comes To The Rescue
17. Doctors, Couriers, and Delays
18. Even So, You Won’t Believe This
19. The Summer of Frustration Ends
20. Fall Approaches with Broken Hearts…Teeth
21. 1600 Miles from Tecpan (pt.1)
22. 1600 Miles from Tecpan (pt.2)
23. Kristina Comes Home
24. Mia’s First Steps
25. December’s Momentum
26. An Angel In The Embassy? I
27. An Angel in the Embassy? II
28. A Christmas to Remember…and Forget
29. Daddy’s 2nd Visit
30. Clash at The Embassy
31. We’re In The PGN! OK Let Us Out!
32. Accomodations
33. The Pencil – Never Give Up
34. Exiting the PGN…sort of
35. Exiting the PGN…yet again
36. Daddy Has Enough
37. The Countdown Begins
38. Easter Brings Hope
39. Sit With Me in San Cristobal
40. T-Minus a few things and counting
41. My New Favorite Color
42. Hope Becomes Reality-The Embassy Interview
43. Mia Mummau Goes Home

More blogs about Guatemala Adoption.

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