Day 48: The Packet

There are things you don't automatically think about when adopting internationally. My family's going out of the country for Christmas, and all of a sudden I realized that Rex might have difficulty returning to the United States. He doesn't have a US passport. When we entered the US for the first time with him, we had all sorts of paperwork, enough to start our own country. We felt kind of protected behind that thick pile of approvals and certifications. It was so important that it had to stay sealed and not opened except by the Department of Homeland Security in our port city, which happened to be Detroit.

So you can imagine our relief when finally we handed it over, unblemished. It had been staring at us on two long plane rides, and when you're sitting on a plane in the middle of the night and can't sleep, your mind starts to play games with you. I started to plan how I might open up the secret packet, maybe sneak into the little kitchen area and steam it open with the tea kettle, or press those hot wipes onto the seal. There were other plans too, but they involved disassembling the plane and I could get into trouble for talking about that. But alas, either self control won out or they started a movie, and so the packet stayed sealed.

That was good. But what's not so good is that we don't have it anymore. We surrendered it in Detroit. Whatever was in that packet convinced the immigration police that Rex indeed belongs to us and we were authorized to bring him into our country. But we don't have that teasing, persuasive little packet for our Christmas trip. I contacted the Department of Homeland Security today and guess what I found out? Rex' passport has a built-in visa, which means he can come and go as he wants. What a nice feature! So all we need is his passport, which is good, because I don't think I could handle another sealed envelope on a plane. Too much time, too little to do, can you pass the hot tea?