Cloud Nine

The usual explanation of the origin of this expression (gleaned from about 2 seconds of Internet research) is that it comes from the US Weather Bureau (gotta love those bureaucrats). Apparently clouds are described by arithmetic sequence, with level nine cumulonimbus being the very highest clouds. These level 9 cumulonimbus clouds reach 30,000-40,000 feet and appear as giant white puffy mountains in the sky. Therefore, being on cloud 9 is something like being at the peak of the puff. I think that is where I’ve been this week.

Of course, after looking that up I’m a bit disturbed by the analogy. Because cumulonimbus clouds are also the ones that bring rain, thunderstorms, hail, and (gulp) tornadoes. So I think I’ll just stop there. I recognize that life is the thunderstorms along with the fluff (and oh, yeah, the issues still lurk) – but it sure is joyous to simply revel in the fluff every now and again.

Some people (who shall remain nameless) may think I tend to be a bit pessimistic. I prefer to think of it as being realistic. Overall, this process has not improved that outlook one bit. So you can imagine my surprise in the Atlanta airport last Friday night when I heard this voice message, ‘Hi S&J, this is CR from the B office. J (our case worker) is out today but we got some good news and we wanted to let you know before the weekend. T is out of PGN. He came out, today, approved. J will be contacting you on Monday to set up a travel meeting. We estimate that you will be able to pick him up in 6-8 weeks.’ I’m sure there were a few people around us wondering what kind of crazies we were. After all, what would you think if you heard people rejoicing because ‘HE IS OUT! NO, NOT KICKED OUT! HE IS OUT! OUT-OUT!’.

It was all the sweeter because it had been a few hours since we had said goodbye to T. And it was utterly unexpected. We had met with our lawyer Friday morning and he had said, ‘Nothing yet. Soon. Soon.’ Recognizing that his soon has not necessarily been our soon, I had smiled politely while feeling the knife twist in my gut. Safe to say, this is the first time in this process where ‘soon’ has really been ‘soon’. And it feels wonderful.

And how quickly everything changes again. Our baby boy is coming home! Yes, there are a few more hurdles to get over. Yes, things could still change. No, I’m not thinking about that at the moment. Quite frankly, I’m too busy enjoying Cloud 9.