suspense to the last minute

I met Mbamie's husband tonight. His 4 1/2 year old daughter also met him, as well as his son (age 7 or 8) and wife who he hasn't seen in nearly 5 years. It was crazy, and dramatic and a wonder. I picked her up with her kids and tortured her with my camera and videos. They had a welcome home sign with them that some guy from an agency had made for them. It had 3 spelling errors in his name.

We were all excited, lined up, snapping pictures (me) as the plane unloaded. And he wasn't there. I am not kidding. He wasn't on the flight he was supposed to come on. Mbamie looked like she was about to pass out. She had already been jittery and filled with emotion thinking this may be it. Earlier someone had said- he's coming tonight and she had replied- "we'll see about that". When his flight arrived without him, well meaning people went scrambling to find out where he could be. One friend who had formerly worked with the organization that brings them assured Mbamie that 50% of the refugees don't make the last flight to the Fair Mother city, because it's such a small plane and hard to find and there is no one to help them find the plane at DFW.

He was on the next flight, for which we were all very grateful. His luggage was not. While they were trying to figure out the luggage, I played with the kids. A woman who had been wailing on a phone earlier looked at us strangely. When I sat next to her, she started talking French to Mbamie's daughter. After a while, I found out that she's originally from England, now from Washington and comes to visit her mom in Abilene once a year which in her words is very awkward. Her mom was not even there to get her. Her luggage hadn't shown up either. When I told her that the 5 year old on my lap had just met her dad for the first time, having been separated from him due to war, the distraught woman said that her problems palled in comparison.

At home, there was singing and prayer, then Mbamie started pulling out food. Another little five year old, her daughter's friend came up to me and said- my dad is not coming. He's dead.

When I think of the obstacles Mbamie and her family have been through it's heart wrenching and full of enigma's that are not easily understood, but at least there was finally some joy, some relief, some victory. Not all have fared as well.