Back in the USSR

Well not quite the USSR anymore, although it felt like it when we were in Arkalyk. On June 3, the 40th anniversary of the release of Sargent Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, Lynne headed back to Kazakhstan to pick up Milan. So I thought a few Beatles references make sense, even if Back in the USSR is from the White Album and not the album many consider to be the greatest rock and roll album of all time. It was just the perfect title since that's one image that remains with me from Kazakhstan - in many ways the country felt so "Soviet", still feeling the influence of the Russian apathy that they lived under for 30 years or so. Anyway, I digress... It's been 3 weeks since Lynne returned home and the long wait to be reunited with Milan which put us in no man's land. We were happy to be home and enjoying the comforts of Boulder, but frustrated, uncomfortable, a little bit lost and basically kind of wigged out knowing that we had a son on the other side of the world. Wondering if he was thinking about us, wondering if he thought Bacha and Habiba and their families were his new family ("but why are they always showing me these pictures of those strange light skinned people who don't speak my language and calling them mama and papa, and who is this Jaden kid, and why is his hair so long if he's a boy anyway?")

So Lynne lands in Almaty at 4am on June 4 and when Milan wakes up, his real and forever momma is there. He's not quite sure what to make of it, but very shortly on the first day they are re-bonded. I just spoke with Lynne tonight (June 5) and things are going really well. Milan is talking up a storm, happy and laughing, and seemingly not missing his Kazakh family. Lynne sounds great, she's taking him out for walks in the big city of Almaty (2 million people) and Milan wants everything he sees. He has to be totally overwhelmed with what is going on around him - lots of people, traffic, loud noises, stores with really interesting things and so on.

Paperwork is the final issue. When Lynne left home we were still waiting for word on Milan's passport, the last major item needed to get him home. Great news on that front too, the passport has been stamped in Kostanai, so a copy has been sent to Lynne and she can get Milan through the necessary medical exams. She should have the passport by Friday for a visit to the U.S. embassy and some type of interview and a visa and that's it, they'll be home free. We optimistically booked a flight home on Sunday, and it looks like they might actually get on that flight and be home by 6pm that same day, June 10. (It would be a shocker if everything goes that smoothly). Don't Let Me Down.

Two 8 hour flights with a very active, squirmy boy who doesn't know how to sit still will be the next challenge, but Lynne is up for it, and if needed, she'll help him "get by with a little help from her friends", that would be Benadryl.

We're almost there, about to Come Together as a family of four, the end of this Long and Winding Road is in sight. Thanks for hanging in there with us, more to come.

Peace,

Bruce