When we flew through England with Neil on our way to the USA, his visa didn't allow for him to go through customs and meet his British cousins, but this time around, that was not an issue, as Indian passports are easily allowed in and out of Great Britain. Because of this, Tom and I had the great privilege of getting to see Hoffbeast's sister and nieces at Heathrow during our layover.
I was quite exhausted already from the emotions and lack of sleep of the last few days, so I considered getting a hotel room but chose against it since we only had a few hours at the airport before needing to check in for our next plane. If I had to do it over again, I'm not sure what I would do...sleeping at Heathrow was an adventure for sure (sleeping on floor + a tired toddler + a ton of luggage to manage = not that much fun), but I was so afraid that if I went to sleep in a bed, I would be sleeping so hard that I would miss my alarm and our flight!
So after driving around the airport getting some fresh air and making my decision, back into the terminal we headed: me, Tom, Aunt Jill, Cousins Pip and Lizzie. It was soooooo good to be with them even for such a short time, to see the familiar faces that had been so supportive throughout this process and to get hugs to carry with us on the last part of our journey. I knew that the next few hours were likely to be rough, so being with family was just what I needed!
Tom was so tired, so the aunt/cousins had to wait 'til another time to really see his personality, but even so, I think they were very pleased that they'd come! They loved him instantly...how could they not?!
By the time the family left, Tom was sacked out...I love this picture Jill snapped before they left. When they walked away, I didn't even stand up because we were finally in a comfortable position, and I knew better than to disturb my sleeping baby at that point.
The chairs were not comfortable, so the next few hours looked something like this: slink down in chair so as to try to sleep without waking baby; move over to a different set of chairs that would allow us to lie prone; have random traveler take off his shoes on row of chairs right next to us and chat incessantly about his travel woes (Listen, Mister, you have no idea, so hush and let me sleep!); move back to this exact spot in an effort to avoid random guy who had begun turning into stalker guy with every sentence--and his feet smelled awful, too; finally decide to move to the floor as the chairs were impossible to sleep on.
Since I was moving to the floor, I decided that I might as well move to the area where I would be checking into my flight in the morning (about 4 hours from then). It was a bit of a walk, but once I got there, I felt better--random traveler soon was replaced by a nice family from Texas who I eventually trusted enough to leave all my stuff with so I could go to the bathroom...imagine having to haul all my luggage to the bathroom! There also happened to be these I-have-no-idea-why-they-were-there carpet squares on the ground, so I made a little bed out of them...we must have looked pathetic, as the Texas family clearly felt sorry for us. :) They were very kind at a time when I needed it badly...seems like they gave me a blanket for us to cover up with--I remember it being cold enough in there that I was having trouble sleeping. Amazingly, I did end up sleeping for an hour or two, and Tom slept on and off the whole time.
Oh what a night!
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