Regular readers here will know of our red thread connection to Katie and her family, along with Katie's Aunt K1. Now, we'd like to share with you a story of case-hardened symbolism.
When we went to China (we were Happy Happy) we visited the Great Wall. We saw thick steel chains attached to the wall with countless numbers of locks attached. At that time, we didn't know why. It is said the tradition of "love locks" was started by Chinese lovers. As a way to symbolize their forever love, they would attach a lock to the chain and throw away the key. This tradition was taken up by adoptive families to symbolize their forever family, usually engraving names on the lock.
When we traveled for Kelly, we were unaware of this tradition and thus unprepared to do anything but gaze in wonder at the countless locks on the wall.About a year and a half later, Katie's family traveled back to China to meet sister Ella. Aunt K1, a true hero of the previous China trip, was going along again to lend a hand.
It dawned on us a few days before they were to leave that perhaps we could ask K1 to be our Forever Family Love Lock Ambassador (FFLLA).
She gladly agreed, and the scramble began to get a lock and have it engraved. We didn't have enough time to find a brass lock and have it professionally engraved. We ended up with a black lock and an engraving tool. In the mall, we found a place that engraved photos onto dogtags while you wait, so we had a family photo done. Then we had to get this to K1 in time before she left.
K1 got the dogtag and lock, and added the red ribbon.At the same time, unknown to us until we saw it on her blog, Katie's Mom had similar plans to attach a lock to the wall. The plan was for K1 and Katie's Mom to attach the locks when their travel group visited the Great Wall. Unfortunately, they visited a section of the wall without the chains. The game-time decision made was to ask their guide Sylvia to attach the locks when she visited the JuYong Pass section of the Great Wall again. Sylvia took over the FFLLA duties and later attached the locks and sent photos back to Katie's family (along with a wayward camera).
Katie's Mom sent us the photos that Sylvia took of our locks on the wall. The locks are now attached to the chain, right next to each other, signifying the link our families share...
here in the US and on the Great Wall. We hope to find them one day on another China trip. The red thread continues...
2 comments:
Isn't it so great that Sylvia agreed to do this task for us, and that J left the camera on the bus, and that the driver finally found it, and that he gave it to Sylvia, and that she had it to take the photos with before she sent it to Guangzhou to be reunited with K3???
What a chain of events!!!
Love this post. Like it or not, our families will always be linked together -- as long as that Wall stands, at least!
I love how this all turned out, and was so thrilled to see those pictures of the locks, the chain and the Wall on our MIA-but-found camera when I uploaded the pictures.
Great minds, it turns out, really do think alike!
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