thank you russia :)

i hadn't seen my parents in 7 months and 18 days. so while i was driving to the airport to pick them up, i was nervous! i didn't know what to expect. during those 7 months and 18 days, i changed so much and i wanted them to see that. i wanted them to see how much i grew as a person, how i matured and became more responsible..

little did i know that my parents had also changed dramatically: individually and as a couple.

going on this trip meant either giving up or leaving all their worldly possessions behind. we didn't have a house (the lease went up the day they left), we sold 2 cars, and all of our furniture and appliances and everything else went into storage. my parents left with a total of 6 luggage and came back with 4! and most importantly, they only had each other as a companion.

when i picked them up from the airport, first and foremost, i noticed their smiles. i knew they were happy to see me! ..but they were just happier overall. they no long stressed about the small things in life and were genuinely happy.

but the one thing that stood out the most was..my parents were acting like a newlywed couple! they were constantly holding hands :) cutee, i know! and it wasn't like old ahjima/ahjuhshi linking arms or anything. they were interlocking fingers, side by side, in love.. again! i couldn't believe it. they had found love again with each other and were seriously living on cloud 9.

and for this, i want to thank russia! why russia? because in russia, my parents visited Nikolayevsky Palace and watched a show there. but what was magical, was what happened afterwards. they made a reservation, dinner for two, in a beautiful room inside the palace and found, to their surprise, that they were the only two who made a reservation! there was a single table in the middle of the dancefloor and a pianist off to the side. she began playing a vienesse waltz and they danced ballroom all around the room :)

i told my parents, this is like a fairytale, perfect date story.. a fantasy dinner! where the billionaire flies the date all the way over to a foreign country into a palace and brings her into a grand room with a piano player just for their date! PLUS dancing?! sigh. how idyllic. haha i guess in this case my dad's the billionaire and my mom's his special date! <3 haha i know my dad planned everything :P

THEN the next day, while my parents were walking around, they heard a flutist playing "ave maria", which was the same song that played at their wedding! haha i know my dad planned that too..

but seriously, what could be more romantic? russia is where my parents came around full circle, where they found themselves and found each other (again)! so thank you russia for bringing my parents together and for the series of small serendipities. although, i don't necessarily think these events happened by CHANCE, but rather, it was fate :) and of course, all part of God's plan.

1 Corinthians 13: 7-8a
⁷It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. ⁸Love never fails.