“No.” Wen’s voice gathered force. “Your family will help you.”
The phone went silent. Holding her breath, Wen waited.
“I’d have a real family, Wen?” Shu Ling said slowly.
“A family has chosen you, Shu Ling. It’s that red-thread thing Auntie Lan Lan talks about.”
“The invisible one that connects people?” Shu Ling asked.
“Yes. You belong with them, Shu Ling,” Wen said. “It is your lucky day!”
Shu Ling said nothing. In the background, Wen heard the babies crying, an auntie calling out for extra help, and the kids getting lined up for chores.
Still, Shu Ling did not speak.
Wen studied the portrait, pacing back and forth, forcing herself to wait.
“OK.” Shu Ling spoke with confidence. “I’m coming. I have a family of my own now, and I’m coming.”
“You’re really sure, Shu Ling?” Wen asked.
“Definitely. See you in the village of Florida, mei mei!”
After she hung up, Wen shrieked, “Mom! Dad! Emily! Shu Ling’s coming after all!”
Her mother raced in so quickly that Wen figured she must have been waiting outside the door.
“Oh, Wen,” her mother sighed. As they hugged, Wen felt her mother’s moist cheeks against her own. Her father bounded into her room, carrying the mug she’d given him, and Emily bounced onto Wen’s bed.
Wen flung her arms around all of them. She had a family and now, at last, Shu Ling did too.
twenty-nine
The first day of summer vacation, Wen and her family boarded an airplane. Ever since her dad had found a new job in February, they’d been saving up enough money to go to Florida and greet Shu Ling. Jenny Peters had given them special permission to be there for the arrival. Now the day was finally here.
What would it be like, seeing Shu Ling after all these months? It had taken so long for all the paperwork to be finished, both in America and China. Wen could feel her heart beating faster under her tank top. Shu Ling would be so surprised to see her! Wen hadn’t told her she was coming.
Wen and her family got off the plane at the Miami airport. Shu Ling’s flight was supposed to land in half an hour. Wen’s family was planning to meet Shu Ling and her family right outside security.
The McGuires stopped in front of a lit-up sign that showed all arrivals and departures.
“‘Flight 2230, Gate 25A,’” Wen’s father read. “Oh, wait a minute. Says the flight is delayed.”
“Excuse me, mister.” Wen stopped a man in a dark-blue uniform, with a tiny airplane sewn on his pocket. “How late is Flight 2230?”
“It was delayed because of some storm activity over Chicago. I’d say it should arrive here in about an hour.”
An hour? Wen couldn’t wait much longer.
“Let’s get some lunch.” Wen’s mother motioned to the restaurants nearby. “She’ll be here soon, Wen.”
At a café, the family squeezed into a small booth by the window.
“Burger, Wen?” Her father grinned.
“Soda refills are probably free,” Emily chimed in.
“I’m not so hungry, right now,” Wen said.
Just then, Wen’s phone beeped. A text message had come, from Hannah.
Hey, how’s it going? See Shu Ling yet?
Wen texted back:
Plane late. Will let you know.
Wen’s mother rose from the booth. “Come on, let’s get some fresh air.”
Downstairs, they pushed through a set of glass doors and felt a hot breeze. Wen saw the trees her mother had been talking about, with long trunks and thin leaves like spikes, standing against a very blue sky.
“Let’s go to the beach while we wait!” said Emily.
“That’s tomorrow, Emily,” her father reminded her.
“We should go back,” Wen said. “Plane might be early.”
Upstairs, they waited by the walkway to the lobby and main concourse, where Shu Ling and her family would pass once they got off the plane. Then a voice over a loudspeaker announced, “Flight 2230 has landed at Gate 25A.” As passengers pushed through the entrance, Wen jumped to her feet. But none of them was Shu Ling.
Shu Ling, where are you? Wen craned her neck.
Then she saw her. Her hair pulled back, Shu Ling walked with her new mother, her new father, a teenage brother, and two little sisters.
“Shu Ling!” Wen screamed.
Shu Ling gazed at the crowd, confused. Then she saw Wen.
“Mei mei!” Shu Ling shrieked. Wen and Shu Ling fell into each other’s arms.
“Oh, Shu Ling, you’re finally here!” Wen stepped away to see Shu Ling’s face, beaming as bright as the Lunar New Year lanterns.
“Oh, mei mei, you have grown so beautiful. You are so . . . American!”
“You look beautiful too. I recognize that tunic. It is one I sent you!” Wen echoed Shu Ling’s Chinese. After all, they had always spoken Chinese together, and Shu Ling would have plenty of time to practice English.
“Auntie Lan Lan said, ‘This is your lucky day,’ and she took it from the common wardrobe for me.”
“Your lucky day. Finally!” Wen beamed.
“Thanks to you, mei mei. You kept your promise.”
“You have a big family,” Wen observed. “Your mother’s hair is not that red.”
“Her eyes are so round. And she speaks Chinese weird,” whispered Shu Ling.
“You get used to these things.” Wen gazed at the little girl whose eyes brimmed with adoration for Shu Ling. “That little girl, your sister,” Wen began. “She loves you already. You can call her mei mei. She’d like that.”
“But you are my mei mei, Wen.”
“You can have two mei meis,” said Wen.
Wen glanced over her shoulder, where her family was watching. She introduced her parents and Emily to Shu Ling. Then, with her new parents on either side of her, Shu Ling said, in perfect English, “Please meet my new family.”
Everybody shook hands. A crowd of passengers surged around them.
“Maybe it’s time to leave,” Wen said. “We’re getting together with you at the beach tomorrow.”
“The beach in the Florida village. You’re coming too?” Shu Ling’s eyes widened.
“My parents agreed. It’ll be so hot,” said Wen. “You’ll have to tie your braid around your head; it will keep your neck cool.”
“Good idea, mei mei,” Shu Ling said.
Shu Ling’s little sister tugged on Shu Ling’s shirt.
“We should probably go now,” said Wen.
“Zai jian.” Shu Ling raised her right hand and stroked Wen’s cheek.
Wen and Shu Ling hugged for a long time. Then Wen stepped away. Shu Ling returned to her mother. Her father stood on the other side while her sisters and brother gathered around her.
“Zai jian,” Wen whispered. As Shu Ling left, Wen caught sight of her long braid. She smiled.
Shu Ling had tied back her hair with a single red thread.
Then Wen saw her mother, her father, and Emily standing beside the glass door.
“Come on, Wennie!” Emily yelled.
Wen turned and walked toward her own family, who were waiting for her.
Acknowledgments
In writing this book, I was blessed with my own Red Thread Sisters, my writers’ group: Jacqueline Davies, Mary Atkinson, Sarah Lamstein, and Tracey Fern. These dear friends cheered me on when the writing got hard and shared my joy as I neared the finish. I couldn’t have written this book without them.
It must have been a red thread itself that connected me to my extraordinary editor, Leila S. Sales, Associate Editor at Viking/Penguin. Leila believed in Red Thread Sisters from the beginning. Gi
fted as both an editor and a writer, she helped me shape my manuscript into a better, stronger book. I’m also indebted to Viking’s Janet Pascal for her thoughtful input and to Kristin Machado for her exquisite cover design.
I honor my smart and feisty agent, Regina Brooks, President of Serendipity Literary Agency and also an author. How I loved the way she championed Red Thread Sisters! And sharing a good laugh with Regina always lifted my spirits.
I’m grateful to Mary House, of Children’s Hope International, who first gave me the idea for my book, while we ate at a tiny noodle shop in Wuhan, China. We’d just returned with our children from visiting their former orphanages. Mary told me, so poignantly, about her son’s reunion with the friend he’d left behind. Her story stirred me.
I also thank Donna Medin, my neighbor, who welcomed me home from Wuhan and introduced me to the older daughter she had recently adopted from China. When I wanted learn more about these older children, Donna tirelessly posted my surveys on all her Chinese adoption listservs.
A heartfelt xie xie to my close friend Linda Lin, former director of the China program at Wide Horizons for Children, who helped us adopt our own two daughters from China some twenty years ago. The day I told Linda about my new story, she grasped both my hands. “You must write this important book,” she urged. Over many cups of green tea, Linda described her work with the poorest Chinese orphanages and encouraged me to keep writing.
I cherish a circle of adoptive parents, most of whom had adopted one or more older children, who became both my experts and my friends. Dr. Jane Liedke, founder and former Executive Director of Our Chinese Daughters Foundation, Inc., answered my endless emails, and let me interview her at conferences, on a bus in China, and in her own home. She was part of my team, which included Suzanne Damstedt, Nutrition and Orphanage Assistance Director of Love Without Boundaries, as well as Sandra Allen, Marie Carmenati, Mary Faucher, Annie Hamlin, Donna Hartford, Jeanne Park, Jennifer Parker, and Longlan Cai Qilong. These were the women I turned to time and time again, with additional questions and frantic email requests for even more specific information. They offered me their experiences, their blogs, their photos, their videos—and themselves. Sometimes we laughed and sometimes we cried over the memories they imparted. To this circle of women, I extend my deepest gratitude and affection.
Special praise goes to two teenagers, Arden Allen and Jamie Hartford, adopted from China when they were older, who told me their own personal stories for Red Thread Sisters. Their openness took great courage and made my story a truer one.
I thank Amy Eldridge, Executive Director of Love Without Boundaries, for her astute observations about older child adoptions. I will donate a portion of Red Thread Sister’s proceeds to the good work Love Without Boundaries is doing.
I also appreciate the ongoing support of Shanti Fry, former president of Families with Children from China—New England, and Susan Avery, who posted my surveys to the entire FCCNE membership.
The adoptive parents of older children who filled out my four surveys supplied the background material I included in Red Thread Sisters. I am beholden to Abby Alias, Dianne Applegren, Eve Berne, Amy Brilliandt, Shari Butts, Andrianna Cassani, Pat Chatwick, Ann Chechile, Meg Clark, Martha Covington, Yvettte Crabtree, Nancy Delpha, Karen Detweiler, Pat Gillule, Monica Hagewood, Karen Hawes, Betsy Hewitt, Starla Kull, Diane B. Kunz, Nancy Letson, Ellen Melchior, Clarissa Minnocci, Maura Moran, Mary Morris, Joy Nobilini, Stacie Page, Kathy Pimloft, Donna Quinn, Valerie Rockwell, Robbin Rossi, Cindy Schutz, Laura Sullivan, Maeve Van Hoorde, Karen Ward, Sarah Wedaman, and Betsy Young. These parents took time from their busy schedules to provide, in vivid detail, their own powerful experiences of adopting an older child.
In writing Red Thread Sisters, I also valued guidance from several accomplished authors. Carolyn Coman was the “midwife” to Red Thread Sisters. I treasured Carolyn’s talent, patience, and warmth, as she helped me mold my earliest drafts. Both a mentor and a friend, Carolyn followed my book’s progress from its initial versions to publication. Additional critiques from Ellen Lesser, Kathy Appelt, Kara LeReau, Louise Hawes, and Xi Xi lit my way, like lunar lanterns.
And then there is my family. I wrap my arms around them and hold them close. I am forever grateful to my devoted husband, Tom Gagen, and my children, Jonathan, Elizabeth, and Katherine. My family sustained me during those years of research and revision. They tolerated my long absences in my attic where I was writing, and ate many a frozen meal so I could find more time to work.
And of course, thanks to my black Lab, Pepper, who slept at my feet as I wrote the book made possible by the generosity of so many others.
Carol Antoinette Peacock
NEWTON, MASSACHUSETTS
APRIL 2012
IF YOU WANT TO HELP ORPHANS IN CHINA who are still waiting for families, or children in other international orphanages, you can visit the Web sites of these organizations, which offer ways to take action:
Love Without Boundaries
http://www.lovewithoutboundaries.com/ Helps Chinese orphans through their programs in education, foster care, healing homes, nutrition, orphanage assistance, and a sponsorship program that enables donors to sponsor a child.
Half the Sky
http://www.halfthesky.org/en Dedicated to improving the quality of care in Chinese orphanages. Through a sponsorship program, people can sponsor a child, a teen, a family, or one sick infant or toddler.
Children’s Hope International
http://orphan.childrenshope.net Helps orphanages in China, Ethiopia, India, and Vietnam through programs in education, nutrition, medical care, and family preservation.
Holt International
http://www.holtinternational.org/ Aids orphanages in Cambodia, China, Ethiopia, Haiti, India, Mongolia, Nepal, the Philippines, South Korea, Thailand, and Vietnam. Sponsorship program provides medical care, education, childcare supplies, and family support to needy orphans.
Red Thread Sisters (9781101591857) Page 16
