The Final Day

Wisely or not, Jorge and I had agreed the previous night to not get any sleep in order to try and maximize the time on the flight home by spending it in a deep somber. As a result, we sat around talking for a few hours until around 3:45 or so before our separate ways, me to my room and him to his, knowing that our luggage was due outside of our respective rooms at around 7. Heading back to my room, I groggily took my last shower in China and dried myself off while packing at the same time.

There was a real sad feeling that came over me as I started to pack. Part of me was simply ecstatic to be heading home to see my wife. We hadn’t been apart that long for several years and I anxiously awaited the opportunity to see her again. Still, there was another part of me that couldn’t believe that this trip, which I had looked forward to since it was first brought up during orientation, was coming to an end. It’s my belief that there are very few events that truly change your life. I have to believe that having a child is one of them and another certainly has to be when you get married. This entire trip had to be another. How often do you get to experience the wonders of a nation that had only opened its borders to the U.S. some 30+ years earlier and walk the Great Wall of China and Tiananmen Square within days of each other?

As I placed my luggage outside, I knew I only had a little bit of time let in China – a feeling that was even stronger when I walked downstairs to meet the rest of the group to head out to the airport. I saw everyone gathered around talking and I pinpointed Lili and Molly. Lili had honestly become like a sister and Molly had become quite a good friend as well in the short time we had gotten to know each other. I became teary-eyed when it was time to say good-bye to them and I gave Lili a hug as she wasn’t going to be going to the airport with us. She had previously given me her business card and I was sure that I was going to e-mail her as soon as I got home to keep in touch. She had indicated that she was going to be coming out to the U.S. within the next year and more specifically, L.A. where she was going to visit me so I could be her tour guide around the City of Angels.

Pulling away from the hotel, I sat and stared out the window as we made our way to the magnetic train station, then the airport where we met our luggage and did all of our checking in on our own. Shortly thereafter, we were on an airplane headed back to the states. Incidentally, we crossed over the international dateline on the way back, meaning that we left on a Thursday at noon in China and ultimately Los Angeles at about the same time on the same day, despite the near 13 hours of plane travel. The best part of that is that I plan to put “time traveler” on my resume.

Of all the sites that we saw in China, I don’t think any of them compared to the beauty of seeing my wife coming into the terminal to meet up with me in Los Angeles. Embracing her tightly was one of the best feelings ever and I didn’t want to ever let her go. As great as China was, I loved being back in the arms of my wife and I never wanted to leave her side again … until I go back to China the next time. This time, I’m going to get to that last tower at the Great Wall!