The agency that we adopted my son through is smaller and got tied up in all the political red tape. The last few months of the year were hard for a lot of the waiting parents because no children came home. The new year brought happy news and many families received the travel call. Their children are coming this month and you can feel the mood change on the message board.

I remember when we received our travel call. Though they warn you that you might only get a few days notice, we were given about two weeks. The air crackled with a new type of frenetic energy. Everything we did had more purpose after we received that call. A switch flipped inside my brain and it went from "something that would happen" to "something that was happening".

For some, the travel call could mean buy your tickets because you’re off to Korea. For others (like me), the travel call means gather your family because the arrival day is coming soon. No matter what the call means – most parents of a Korean adoptee can remember where they were when the call came in.

I was at home in our office. I remember talking with the social worker and I was so calm. It really hadn’t hit me yet. I took down the information about the flight and the time. She told me that the flight would be stopping in Japan and then flying straight to Detroit. I thanked her for the information as if she was telling me that our newspaper would be delivered on Saturday.

Everyone who knows me can tell you that I have never been a jump up and down person. I didn’t this time either. What I remember is that my mind turned to mush. My poor husband was trying to get information out of me and I couldn’t think coherently enough to give it to him. I started worrying that I had written the information down wrong and that we’d turn up at the wrong time. What if we were late? What if he wasn’t on the plane? Looking back, I can laugh about it. I did the exact same thing when we received my sister’s travel call too. I guess twenty years doesn’t change a person that much.

If you would like to comment, but not on this site, please e-mail me at adoptkoreablog@adoptionmail.com.