Eleven years, a sweet boy was born in South Korea. On September 2, we received a phone call from our agency, Holt International, that we had son - Kyung Dae Ho. Wow! A son! How was I to care for a little boy? We already had a sweet girl who would be turning 4 soon. Three months later, on December 18, we packed up and headed to the Philadelphia Airport to meet this little one. I remember being so nervous all day because there was snow storms in Chicago and this is where Kyle would be flying from after the long flight from Korea. I kept going out to the O'Hare Airport's website and kept refreshing it to see if Kyle's flight was going to be cancelled. There were a lot of flights being cancelled but as of 4 pm he was still going to be coming in. As we were walking out the door, Robby looked at me and said "His flight was just cancelled" and I literally teared up. Robby was quick to tell me he was just kidding, barely avoiding a flood of tears. God was with us (and Kyle) as his flight ended up being one of the only ones to leave Chicago that night.
We arrived at the airport with a lot of time to spare. We were able to visit with another family who was waiting for the actual little brother of the little girl they had adopted. This was all pre-9/11 so we were actually sitting and waiting at the gate. Finally we saw the plane pull up to the gate. I couldn't believe I was finally going to hold my son. I began to tear up again as I saw the lady escort come up the walkway with Kyle. The other lady was bringing our new friends' son to them but I had eyes only for Kyle. He was crying and the lady looked tired. So I tried to wait patiently for all the formalities to be done - checking paperwork and arm bands to make sure we were getting the right boy. I had no doubts. I had been looking at his little face for months in the little picture that they had given us. He was in a carrier strapped to the lady. They unstrapped the carrier from the escort and put it on me. I had my boy!!! I think the poor boy cried for 45 minutes. He didn't want to eat and he was dry. He was just tired from the long trip and scared of all the changes. He finally fell asleep in my arms as we walked to a different gate to await my dad's arrival from Arkansas. He was supposed to be there when Kyle arrived - he was driving. But due to the bad weather, he had turned around and went home. Robby and I had bought him a plane ticket and he made his first of many flights to come spend some time with us. Kyle slept for the next hour and woke up just as Dad's flight landed. After that, I don't think the sweet boy cried very much... not even in the car seat on the way home - which Caitlin hated for the first 2 years of her life.
He was so full of life, always looking for ways to make us laugh. He certainly wasn't perfect as there were so many things he did that frustrated his parents so much. He drove his big sis nuts when she wanted to play a game because he was like Godzilla and would crash across the boards just to watch the pieces go flying. But I remember more all the times we laughed at him and I guess that is how it should be. When he would fall out the chair at the computer because he got too excited, we would clap and say "yea!" He would then get up and take a bow and say "Thank you... thank you very much!" He would have us stand at the pantry doors in the kitchen...he would clear his voice...then start singing some song that sounded something like "Celery...cha cha cha".... and we would dance across the kitchen floor.
He loved being with other kids and had some wonderful friends in our neighborhood. Their moms loved and treated him as their own. I used to worry a little bit that he might like them better. But when it was all said and done, he always wanted his mom. I did put him in pre-school 2 months before he died. He LOVED it. That first morning when I dropped him off, he went in and made himself at home and didn't even tell me goodbye. I don't regret putting him there. I just wish I had done it sooner.
I wonder, Kyle, what you would be like today if you had lived. You loved playing games on the computer at age 3. Would you still be on the computer all the time, or would you be outside with the boys in the neighborhood playing ball, swimming, driving your sister nuts? I imagine you would have been one handsome little man today on this 11th birthday. Hope you are celebrating in Heaven sweet boy. Someday we will meet again and there will be no more tears. Until then.... happy birthday, sunshine, I still love you to the moon and back.
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