In the Air - En route to Shanghai July 26th

In the Air - en route to Shanghai July 26th, 9:45am

We are nine hours into our 14 hour flight to Shanghai.  The jets of the plane are roaring and people mingle in the aisles, stretching their legs and becoming acquainted in tight spaces.  The space between two worlds - this plane really does represent so much of what our next days and weeks will feel like.  We let go of the familiar and embrace the country of our son's birth.  He will fumble, as we do now, with the language barriers, customs, noises unfamiliar.  My body is tired but my heart can't rest.  What will our first moments with our son look like?  What does it feel like to hold him?  I'm certain that his smile will light up the room as much as it has lit up our hearts, staring at it on the screen saver of our computer and phones for the last 10 months.
We have been dreaming about this moment for months and I cannot wrap my heart around the fact that this day is finally here.   And for every thought I have of my nervous anticipation and excitement, I feel an equal amount of heartache for him and all that he says goodbye to, all the while knowing that, in the end, he will be exactly where he should be - in our arms.
I smile at the lady across the aisle with her two young children, close in age to my oldest two.  I want so badly to start a conversation with her, to hear about what she loves about her country, about motherhood, about life.... but the language barrier keeps us from communicating and so we awkwardly nod our heads and smile back and forth knowingly.  With each emotion I feel empathy for our baby boy - I know how badly a 2 1/2 year old wants to communicate their needs and how frustrated he will be.  I am praying that smiling and laughter will begin to feel our days as we get acquainted.
I have been thinking about his primary caregiver also - how she must feel to say goodbye after caring for him and loving him for all of these months...  I wrote her a letter of thanks a few nights ago and barely could put cohesive thoughts together - how do you thank someone adequately that has loved so sacrificially?  But that is exactly what love does right?  Love does the difficult stuff - love never fails.