The Waiting Game

Evac Part III

Lebanon:

After being reunited, and seeing the enormous line that awaited us, was like a punch in the gut. I guess that I expected to put right on a boat and beginning my journey. Water bottles were passed out at every leg of these lines, but at least inside, for the most part, the pushing and shoving stopped. Canopies protected us from the unrelenting sun. There were portable bathrooms, with huge lines, but at least you could go. I notice the boy/man, in the next section over from us, wave and nod. I tell him I'm glad he made it through. When we can finally begin to see the Mediterranean Sea, I am filled with hope. We are on our way, heading home, to see my family, to see my husband who knows that he won't get to see his family for some time to come.

We reach the security check point just as dusk begins to settle in. We've been told to travel light, but since I couldn't buy any smaller suitcases, and hubby watched on CNN how people were bringing their regular suitcases, I had no choice but to bring all three with us. How embarrassing it was when they opened a suitcase, only find another one inside. I had borrowed my parents suitcase, and just couldn't leave it behind, and knowing that when we go to Lebanon, we take eight suitcases with us, I couldn't leave ours behind either. The soldiers laughed, checked for explosives by running some form of liquid over the suitcases, rummaged through the clothing, and we went to the final stage.

I let the boys take the luggage to the side and wait, and the soliders gave them MRE's (meals ready to eat).......finally food at 8pm. I declined, just wanted to check in with our passports, and get the hell out of dodge. I meet up again with the boy. I am close to the front of the line, when they cut it off, and announce that the boat to Cyprus is gone, and we will be going to Turkey. If I don't want to go to Turkey, get out of line, and wait for the Cyprus boat. Well hell, what does that mean. Do I even care? Some people did. One girl was hysterical because she could not go to Turkey.

Edmund, the boy who's grandmother told me to stay with him, began to cry. I tried to help, that motherly instinct kicking in. I asked his age......16......holy shit, he's just a 6' tall kid. Where are you going.....Sterling Heights, Mi. Crap.....it's fate..destiny......the hand of God linking us together. I throw my arms around him, tell him that I will NOT leave him. He's coming home with us, and promise that everything will be ok. And yes, I cried. I am a sympathetic crier, (and puker, but that's another story ) I admit it.

The soldier bring Z and D over to me, because they are too young to be sitting on the grass alone. I introduce them to Edmund, and they stay will me, telling me how great the MRE's are...and how cool the soldier are. That's young boys for you. They were great, never complained, just hung in there and did all that was asked as if it were nothing, and I am very proud of that fact. I have great kids, and I know it.

We check in, and now my family in America will know that yes, we did in fact leave Lebanon. At 10pm, we are finally on a bus. I've watched others get onto small boats that took them to ships docked in the sea, but where do they take us? Back toward Beirut. Some people freaked out, I was exhausted and in too much shock to think much of anything. The bus sports huge white flags.....again, that moving in the cover of darkness thing. Edmund is on a different bus, but I know he's in the front of us, and he knows where we are. I assume we will hook up again once we get on the Luxury Cruise Ship.

to be continued....

TTFN