by Angela

I apologize in advance for the lengthy post. The quick story is: Our kids have been sick and it was a stressful trip home, but we are happy to be back. But in the spirit of documenting both the good and the bad of our experience and perhaps more for our remembrance than your entertainment, here is the lengthy version…

Poor Audrey was quite sick the entire last week of school which she spent under a blanket on the recliner chair enduring high fevers and cough. I suspect she had influenza and had I known you can purchase a test at the pharmacy in NZ (just discovered this), I may have been able to confirm it. It was mental torture of sorts watching the illness take it’s course and not knowing whether she would recover in time to say goodbye to teachers and classmates. By the time Friday rolled around and she had been sick for 7 days although not fully recovered, I caved and let her go to the school assembly. Watching her be recognized with awards was uplifting after a tough week. And of course the goodbyes were had and parting gifts from friends were bittersweet. But it has been reconfirmed that I am not a fan of goodbyes, something Charles and I have in common.

We enjoyed spending quality time with our dear friends Casey and Amanda- both friends since medical school and now honorary family members. Their presence and our travelling together was a good distraction from thinking too much about leaving. And I’m reminded how new experiences and travelling together forges stronger bonds. During this last week of school, the two of them traveled alone seeing some must see NZ sights- blackwater rafting in glow worm cave, Hobbiton, Rotorua with it’s geothermal features, and a Maori cultural experience.

Right after NZ school term finished, we left for Taupo, a town on New Zealand’s largest lake. Taupo is about 3-4 hours south of Auckland on the North Island and a popular vacation spot for Aucklanders.  Here the 7 of us spent a few days partaking in some quintessential NZ activities- white water rafting, jetboating, and hot springs. While we had done jetboating before, we were impressed with boating up to the Huka Falls, arguably New Zealands most visited natural attraction. Not quite on level with Niagara Falls but the display of water power as the wide river becomes quite narrow is impressive and when it comes with a rainbow, near magical. Thankfully our white water rafting trip stayed clear of the falls. Traversing multiple grade 2 rapids on a different river (Tongariro R.) was thrilling enough for most of us I think. Also in Taupo, Charles got his month-long dream smashed when he was unable to win $10,000 by hitting a golf ball onto a platform on the lake (Hole-in-one challenge). For the dog lovers of our group, we took a husky dog sled racing tour with the overriding message-  huskies are amazingly built for sled racing but poorly suited as pets. We all appreciated getting to interact and pet the beautiful and gentle domesticated “wolves.” Lastly, we squeezed in some relaxing time in a natural hot spring pool (DeBretts).

After Taupo we ventured back to Queenstown, which has become Danny’s favorite place on earth. Yet, New Zealand wasn’t finished punishing us. Let me explain. I’m not sure how other people cope with a string of bad luck but I start to wonder about the existential reason for things. Actually Danny and I both started to wonder if we were being punished for leaving or being encouraged to leave New Zealand. Well, our NZ home had two separate living areas. Our neighbors below us moved out and new neighbors moved in. While the old neighbors were cordial, but not friendly, the new neighbors were very friendly. They invited us over for tea one night before we left. We met the young couple- Ellie from Oregon and her boyfriend Alec from the UK. Not only were they super friendly and nice but Ellie teaches piano and Alec plays chess- two activities our kids are passionate about and for sure we would have taken advantage of given the chance. That is when Danny and I jokingly decided we were being punished for leaving.

I assumed we would get a respite from sick kids after both Audrey and Maria were sick. Yet, on the flight to Queenstown, Charles started with fever and cough. Charles, who had been excitedly studying the Cardrona ski field map for weeks. Charles, who had been on the edge of disappointment after each of three prior broken bones in the family made us consider cancelling the trip. So it was unfortunate that he was only able to ski for about 1-2 hours each day while having his turn of  coughing and fevers.

We were told Cardrona was the place to go skiing and I can see why. It has a long wide beginners trail at the top with expansive views. With the beautiful winter mountainous scenery, the one trail kept us entertained for days. And staying in the Cardona apartments upstairs of the main facility building was very convenient. Luckily no one got hurt! And this being our second time skiing as a family, we reinvigorated our combined love for the activity.

Back in Maraetai, we said a heartfelt goodbye to Casey and Amanda. With the daunting task of packing, we also juggled with the decision whether Charles, with 7 days of fever and not eating much, was well enough to travel as planned in a few days time (Wednesday the 17th). Also we were coming close to Danny’s deadline to be out of the country and staying longer would require him to pay taxes on his income. After multiple Delta calls, we made the difficult decision to split up- with Charles and I staying 4 additional days (till Sunday) and Danny and the girls leaving as originally planned. We changed our flights accordingly. Then, at 10pm the night before Danny and the girls were to fly out, we received notification that the flight out of Auckland was delayed 9 hours. This meant that they wouldn’t arrive in Los Angeles until 3:00 p.m. which left them virtually no options for getting to Louisville that night. Back to the drawing board, another lengthy delta phone call, and math to determine exactly what day Danny was allowed to stay. Finally, we settled on all flying out together on Friday. The best part, aside from all being together, was that our total travel time for the day was going to be 3 hours less than expected due to minimal layovers. Three hours is gold when you’re traveling for 24 plus hours. Little did we know that minimal layover times would be the source of half of our stress coming home. The other half being Maria who had a low grade temp before we left. We decided not to give her any medicine that night and see how she was in the morning. She awoke free of fever and ate a decent breakfast. We figured we should leave while she was well enough.

With our bags stuffed to the brim, we left Auckland taking with us the sadness of leaving and the anticipation of home sweet home. We landed in Los Angeles, post movie marathon, feeling like it was 1:00 a.m. Maria hardly ate on the 12-hour flight and started running a fever again. She had gotten some Tylenol but was still looking unwell and now exhausted as we waited in the line to get through customs. I kept hearing an announcement over the speakers about a software problem. What I saw was a long line of people ahead of us (maybe 100) that was not moving. Only later did we hear that there had been a global IT failure. All we realized was that we were still in the line for customs when our flight was about to board. That’s when my anxiety really started to build. Hey, I know missing a flight is not a big deal but I didn’t think I had it in me to wait any longer, or maybe my mom instinct wanted to get Maria home as quickly as possible. After at least an hour in line, they started processing people. We tagged along a guy behind us who was complaining about missing his flight and we were able to get through. Running from there, we picked up our seven large 50 lb bags (nearly 350 lbs of luggage) and quickly rechecked them. Then we frantically tried to follow signs to security with all our carryons- four rolling bags, one bag full of laptops, and five backpacks.

With 30 min until departure, we found ourselves in a new line at security. And we all know how quickly the security line moves. “Is there any way to bypass this line as we are about to miss a flight?” I pathetically asked an employee. She seemed unmoved, and replied I was welcome to ask the people ahead of me myself but she could not. So trying hard not to seem rude or obnoxious, I looked for a kind face and asked to move in front. Perhaps people saw my desperation because they didn’t hesitate to let us ahead. By this point we were quite frazzled and being used to less strict requirements in NZ, accidently left all our laptops in the bag. This meant that the scanner tagged the bag to be manually searched. I told Danny to run ahead to the gate and see if they would hold the plane for us. He left with Maria. I anxiously waited with Charles and Audrey for our bag to get through this new additional line. After a few bags, my bag was next in line. (Please! Please hurry up!) I tried to be patient as a family in front of me argued with the TSA employee. He had found and removed a device in their bag. The family argued to keep it so he left to go check with his supervisor (Nooooo!). And when he came back and said it wasn’t allowed, they then proceeded to press him with questions about how they could get it mailed home. (Aaaahhhh!) I finally said, “Hey I’m about to miss a flight and my bag is next to be checked.” They debated for another minute then let it go. The TSA officer picked up my bag and scolded me for not removing the electronics. “How many laptops are in this bag?,” he asked. “Three” I said. But he only found two and then I questioned  myself as I wasn’t the one to pack it. So he put the bag and the two laptops back on the belt to be scanned again. At this point Charles was too anxious (I wonder who he takes after) so I told him he could go ahead to the gate leaving just Audrey and I waiting. And now all my focus was on that one bag and getting to the gate. I waited on edge for that bag to go through the scanner only to see it removed once again and put in the separate line to be manually checked. No time to wait, I got the TSA agent’s attention and asked if he would check the bag again ahead of everyone else’s. Luckily he did. He found the third laptop and graciously apologized for missing it, then put the bag through the scanner for the third time. This time it went through. Thank goodness! I was hoping that our flight hadn’t left at this point, 5 minutes before departure, although I was losing hope.

With no time to repack all the electronics, I ran with Audrey to the gate with three laptops and two tablets stacked in my arms and three bags across my shoulders. Was so relieved to see Danny at the gate waving us to come on as they were holding the gate for us. We started quickly gathering our stuff. Then Maria said, “Where is the blue bag?” I quickly looked and saw we were missing a rolling blue carry-on bag. And then realized we must have left it in security. (What?! Nooooo!! After all that!) I was incredulous and downcast. What are the chances they would continue to hold the flight while we retrieved our bag? Charles said, “Give us three minutes, just three.” Although I knew the path back and forth was more than three. I saw the look on their faces; it was unlikely they would hold it. But before we could get a response, Charles was off sprinting back to security and I decided it was best to run after him. I wasn’t even sure I could find my way back but I couldn’t give up after all we had been through. But I made it back to security, and sure enough there was the blue bag, all by its lonesome, at the end of the security counter. I grabbed it and started running back, wondering why I didn’t pass Charles and if he was lost. Luckily, I ran into him in the security area and we both took off towards the gate. We got there out of breath and sweating, and Charles coughing. They had closed the gate. “Please, please, please, can you reopen it?” After 14 hours of traveling, a 3 am internal clock, a sick kid in tow, and having spent the last hour singally focused on making this flight, I had no pride and only desperation. One of four flight attendants was moved with pity (or maybe it was by the grace of God). After a quick phone call, the gate was reopened and we stumbled onto our Los Angeles to Detroit flight.

So yes, despite the world’s IT debacle, we made it home. All but two big bags that we are still waiting on. And I passed a stress test without any heart attack. Such is life with anxiety. But so happy to see loved ones and be home! We pulled up to my brother and family holding a welcome home sign, a warm homemade meal waiting for us in a crock pot, and a home lovingly prepared for us by my parents. It is heartwarming and surreal to be back. I almost forgot how nice our recently renovated home is. And because we hadn’t lived in it that long and it was devoid of our personal items having been rented in our absence, it doesn’t feel as familiar. And while we are processing leaving one world and reentering another, we are also unloading a very stressful trip home and now another sick child.

There is much comfort in being home. The daylight seems so long, the toilet bowl looks to have too much water, and the light switches feel unfamiliar to our fingers. But I know all will feel right in time. Our joy is tempered by taking care of Maria. At least she waited till after we were home to start vomiting. Hopefully she gets better soon and my cortisol can come back down to normal! You know, she had a shorter bout of vomiting after the trip there. Likely a virus but makes me wonder. Could it be jet lag related?

I’m ready to get off the roller coaster of ups and downs and perceive our journey in the light of being back. I imagine it will be a while before the experience fully unfolds, as such experiences often do so slowly over time. We are surely changed, but how? It is not fully evident.

I may write one more post before closing this book so to speak. Thanks for listening and being with me on this journey 💕