So, we're going to Japan for my son's wedding. Nina is very excited to go- she loves her uncle, she loves weddings… she'll be 5- it will be a great, unforgettable experience for her. We have our tickets, we're planning what we'll wear, what we'll do when we're there. We've gone online and looked at pictures of Kyoto- it's beautiful; Nina thinks the temples and teahouses are all toy stores. She's planning lots of shopping.
The problem is her passport. Her father was asked to leave the US because he had come here illegally from Brazil. You can't get a passport for a child without permission from both parents. They pretty much have to show up at the post office holding their child's hands and submit all their paperwork together. If this isn't possible, there is a long, complicated process to go through to try to prove that you can't contact the other parent, including lots of forms and explanations and witnesses. It seems fraught with the possibility of failure. And we're running out of time.
Anyway, we finally reached her dad! And emailed him the form! And told him how he needed complete the entire thing and have it notarized and also provide a copy of his identification! And he said not to worry- he'd get it to us this week! And, today I got the little pink slip in the my mailbox saying that the post office had it, waiting for me!
I raced to the post office, got the envelope- it felt a little light. I was worried. Her dad's english is OK, not the best. Sometimes he doesn't understand. I tried to open the envelope in the car, but it was made out of some kind of impenetrable plastic, so I raced back home, ran inside, grabbed the scissors and opened it. The form was there- didn't seem to be completely filled out, no copy of an ID. Sigh….
It's been a long week full of vomit, no sleep, and general frustration. And now this. As Nina would say, dang it all.
No comments:
Post a Comment