35 years ago on the 21st of December my husband and I drove to the airport to get our infant son from Korea. We call it his ‘gotcha day’. At that time you could go to the gate and wait as they walked off the plane. There were 2 other couples like us who were waiting for babies.

When he was placed in my arms I bawled like crazy for joy and amazement. It was a day I’ll never forget.

But what we didn’t know, was there was a 4th couple who was also waiting for their child. However their child was a ‘special needs’ baby. We didn’t know about them until the airline hostess said (about them) “I didn’t know angels flew so low” because this wasn’t the first special needs child they adopted. In fact if I remember right they had adopted something like 8 other special needs kids.

I have never forgotten that couple being described as low-flying angels – but they were.

Then today I came across this video and again thought of the phrase ‘angels flying so low’ that their stories impact our lives. What an amazing man he is to have such a big heart.

Over the past year or so I’ve read some books about people defecting from N Korea and it sounds like a particularly brutal place on earth. So for children to escape it only to be thrust into a society that doesn’t know what to do with them – this man is making such a huge difference in at least 10 lives today.

This is long I know – but I wanted to share this with all you beanies who share your love and lives in ways that you aren’t even aware of. I hope that in some way we can each be angels to each other.
Blessings to all of you during this last few days of the year as we head into a new one.

47
17

    ❤️

    1
    1

    Thank you for sharing this story with us and the message of love for this season.

    1
    1

    Comment was deleted

    0
    0

    My eyes are filled with tears..♥️

    1
    0

    This is so beautiful.

    Gotcha days are celebrated by one of my dearest friends and several of my neighbors. I hope yours was filled with mostly happy memories.

    1
    1

      Thank you @ndlessjoie – usually people don’t know that term. I’m also what’s called an ‘airport mom’.
      I’ve contacted him on this day every year – only the last two he doesn’t respond – but I still tell him I’m glad he was placed in my arms. He always responded with surprise that I was the only one who remembered that day.

      Garrison Keillor once told a story in his Prairie Home Companion show (easily over 20 years ago) about a family adopting from Korea. I don’t know if I can find the story – but it was very sweet and really captured the feeling.

      3
      1

    this is so sweet! Wishing you and your family a warm and cozy holiday season~

    2
    1

    Thank you for posting this, @stpauligurl. It helps restore my faith in humanity. What an inspiring story, as is your own, and that of the “low-flying angels.” And “gotcha day” on the winter solstice — the turning point of darkness to light. How symbolic.

    I can’t help but be reminded of this song, and hope that communication resumes in right time. You’re keeping the door open, and that’s all you can do at the moment. Life is like that sometimes. <3 <3 <3
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EkaKwXddT_I

    Re: Garrison Keillor story: Could it be this?
    https://www.amazon.com/The-Tolleruds-Korean-Baby/dp/B007ZZ61QK

    0
    1

      Ooooh @pakalanapikake!
      Yes it is! Somehow we had that on tape (yes an old cassette) for years and would tell people about the story. I remember when they were asked about their “biological” kids and she thought, what the Korean babies are chemical? or something like that.
      Anyway thanks for the link which I of course bought and will listen to later today. His voice brings back so many memories.
      And I too hope the silence ends some day. There are times when I think about them the pain in my heart is almost too overwhelming….
      But I will never forget those low-flying angels at the airport that day.

      1
      2

        @pakalanapikake – I finally listened to Garrison Keillor tell this story – (for the first time in maybe 30 years) and I bawled like a baby. When he was describing the mom mentally landing all the planes – I remember doing that when we were waiting for my son.

        Boy it brought back so many memories. Again, thank you for finding that link. PHC was a staple in my weekends for many years.

        1
        1

        @stpauligurl,
        I’m so glad that’s the story you were seeking. You’ve gotten me intrigued, and I’ve now got a copy of it, too. For some reason, I never got into PRAIRIE HOME COMPANION, probably because I wasn’t home much to watch it on TV in its early days. I grew up listening to radio humorists Jean Shepherd and Bob & Ray, so storytellers of their ilk were right up my alley, and I would have liked the music. I didn’t have a TV when I was in college, or when I lived in Hawaii in the early ’80s. During my own radio days, there was little time to tune in. — I do have the feeling that I missed the boat in this case. I have a dim recollection that my Mom was a fan of Lake Wobegon.

        If it is any consolation, my dear college buddy’s adopted hapa-Chinese kid bro — with a Scandinavian name that conjures a blonde Viking — has been going through a similar time-out. And the same has occurred with my German unni from my exchange-student days; her biological daughter broke off communications after graduation from college in England, and that has been that. I’m aware of family baggage in both cases. I just want you to know that you are not alone, and that other parents go through this, too.

        I kind of wonder if it might be a generational thing. Or maybe a midlife crisis that arrived early? One thing’s for sure: young people nowadays have it more difficult in some ways than we Boomers did, even with Vietnam and stagflation. I would hate to be a young person starting out at this time. It was tough enough in the late ’70s and ’80s.

        I don’t have kids, so my hat is off to you and your hubby for being “low-flying angels” yourselves. You opened your hearts and threw a lifeline to a vulnerable soul in need. I don’t know if you are familiar with the work of Nashville singer-songwriter Karen Taylor-Good, a native of El Paso. Her compassionate insight into the human condition has inspired and consoled me over the years. I had an inkling that some of her pieces might be apropos. Danged if I didn’t find a bunch of them on YouTube today that hadn’t been there the last time I looked. This one just might hit the nail on the head:

        Karen Taylor-Good: “Heart of My Heart (Where Did You Go?)” (Perfect Work of Art, 1999)
        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U0c59QY9H6I&list=PLg2Xireb081oYPPYdMm67Lt9YAm8cqKPn&index=38

        Another great one is “Real Men Cry,” which is on the same playlist, along with “Deep Blue Desert Sky,” “Real,” and “Wild Blue Yonder,” a few more of my faves. I’ve posted “All Is Well” separately [which is included in a radio interview that I found interesting], along with “Share the Lead.” I hope they lift your spirits, chinguya. 😉 <3

        0
        0