We are not on our way...

I hate to even write this, but something bad has happened. The good news is that we are okay and we are together (as a family of four). The bad news is that we were not allowed to board the flight to Beijing.

Matthew has a severe peanut allergy, and we notified our airline of the situation last week. Having flown many times with other airlines, we have found them to be supportive and understanding of his need to have a few peanut-free rows surrounding our row. In fact, most of the time, of their own accord, they simply do not serve peanuts on the flight at all and substitute an alternative snack. Well, to make a long story short, even though they told us something different at checkin, as we were boarding, the airline staff informed us that they intended to serve peanuts on the flight after all. We expressed our concerns about this decision regarding his safety. Then the pilot refused to allow Matthew to fly to Beijing, at all. Despite all attempts from us to try and negotiate any possible alternative solution, the ultimate authority was the pilot, and he would not budge.

Obviously, this upset the whole family greatly, and we tried to figure out what we should do. We decided that Mary Alice and I needed to go on alone and with me sobbing (not again!), they took me onto the plane, I was so flustered that I realized I had left behind the carry-on with our medications and I ran back down the jetway again to get it. Then, I realized that I still had Eric and Matthew's passports, so I ran back again. By this time I was REALLY flustered, and I didn't even know what seat I was supposed to be in, because I had never held the boarding passes. One of them was talking in a very not nice tone to me (they were running so late) and I guess I just had a melt down.

Every one was watching me (an enormous wide airplane) sobbing and I was weighed down with three rolling carry-ons and a backpack and the flight attendant was between me and Mary Alice in a very narrow space. I could not take it. I cried, hard. Then pilot made a decision that he would not allow me to fly to Beijing either and I was escorted off the plane with Mary Alice.

Although this seemed horrible at the time, it was probably the best thing to be reunited with Eric and Matthew again. It was really traumatic for us to be separated and ultimately not a good thing. After the plane was gone, all I could think of was how were we going to get to China . This was at about 1pm on Friday, after waking up at 3 and flying into NJ at 7:30. We spent the entire afternoon (really Eric doing it) negotiating an alternative plan for us to fly out.

The plan is that we will go out on the same flight tomorrow, at noon,(different crew) with two of the same gate agents working the shift, who were among the sympathetic souls there with us. Eric said that some of them were openly crying watching our dramatic situation unfold. They are going to adjust the menu to serve only pretzels and things will be fine. They arranged for a night at the Holiday Inn and gave us a few vouchers for dinner and breakfast. We are thankful to be together and to be safe. I am so glad this did not happen on the way home so that Ling did not have to witness this awful experience. We are all stronger for it though and have learned some important lessons about family strength, sticking together and keeping cool under pressure.

Some of you may be angered by this, but we ask that you not do anything other than support us and pray for a smooth flight tomorrow. We will miss our connection in Shenyang (and lose those tickets) but GWCA is working as we speak to set up a new flight for us to get to Shenyang ASAP. There is a good chance that we will catch up with our group on Sunday night, or Monday morning. If we cannot get there by Monday our adoption may be delayed a few days, but it will definitely happen. They assured us of that.

Stacey and John were on the plane and saw what happened but they had to fly the 14 hours without knowing the outcome. I hope that if any of you reading this are their family or friends and you speak to them by Panda Phone that you can tell them that we are Okay. We will call them in the morning.

Wow, I am exhausted. I just had to retype some of this because when I pressed publish, I lost some of it. uggh.......time to go to bed.

I knew this trip would be full of joys and sorrows, but NEVER in my wildest dream did I ever imagine this.

Here is a picture of us all, taken just before this happened. Thank God we took it then. (Mary Alice refused to be in it, but at least we got some of her.)