The Arrival
Submitted by Diane Asai, April 6, 2005

It’s April, as I sit watching the collection of borrowed children riding the NYC subway with me. What a pleasure the year has been! I have such a lovely group of well-mannered teenagers. It is my opinion that they are a testament to their parents’ years of hard work, raising kind, generous, ambitious human beings. One in particular catches my eye and makes me smile. Simon is sitting next to my handicapped 19 year old daughter. He is holding her hand. He has done so often during this trip to NYC. He watches over her, and holds her hand, and gives her hugs, setting a fine example for the others to be kind. This trip was such a pleasure because the entire group was following his example. He teased her, played chase and made her laugh. Throughout the year, he has presented such loving gestures.

Thinking back, I remember the day of Simon’s arrival. Jennifer, his host mom, phoned me to say that someone had phoned in sick, and she would not be able to get off early to go to the airport. I offered to pick up the two young host siblings and take them with me to meet Simon at the airport. I left the house that lovely morning, heading west. I arrived at their well-kept new colonial style home. An excited 12 year old, John, greeted me with his welcome sign. Sleepy-eyed, curly haired Sonia plopped into the rear seat of my green van, humpfing. She wasn’t allowed to touch the sign! John got into the front, ignoring his sister’s complaints. The sun was shining as we headed northeast for the 10 mile trip to the airport. I wondered if the blue sky was a good omen. We three chatted politely about the children’s realistic expectations for the year. It’s nice listening to children. They are quite frank, and often have a pure view of life, usually positive and hopeful.

We parked the car and calmly walked into the terminal, sporting John’s lovely sign. There were the usual crowds around the ARRIVAL/DEPARTURE screens. The plane was on schedule. We found which gate we should watch, and headed up the escalator. The next minutes were a blur in time. What I remember next is seeing the face of our new arrival. He looked just like his application photo. Sometimes the students have matured enough between the time of the photo and the arrival, that your guest could walk right by. You wouldn’t recognize the person or each other if there were no photos received, yet, by the student. That’s a good reason to bring a welcome sign! We watched the plane dock, and went to the security gate. We saw Simon long before he reached the security checkpoint. As he bounded down the wide hallway, he found us with his eyes. Immediately, a big grin and smiling eyes took over his countenance. It warmed your heart. Hugs and kisses were exchanged, after which we collected luggage. If he was insecure, he hid it very well. We arrived at my home where we had a snack and became acquainted. The group headed out to the pool. It was fun to watch everyone play. Host mom, Jennifer, arrived from work around six, and later another student and her family came. We had a lovely BBQ, visiting, playing and enjoying the company of each other. It was a lovely day and a prelude to similar days ahead. The thought calmed me greatly. I smiled to myself, thanking God for this beautiful gift of hope and future.

The year has been exactly what the beginning promised!