In May 2016, we learned that our daughter-in-law in the United States was pregnant with a second child and were informed that it was a boy. This surprised us a lot. How could we know the gender of the fetus right after conception? The son said that the doctor was still puzzled by their lack of proactive attention to gender, stating that the gender of a baby can be accurately determined at three months of pregnancy without any legal restrictions. We have always encouraged them to have another baby and expressed our full support. In order to help them, we arrived in Beijing on June 28, 2016, but after boarding at the Capital International Airport, we were informed to disembark, complete immigration procedures, collect luggage, and stay at a hotel; The next day, we returned to the airport to check in my luggage and collect my boarding pass for a new flight. On the afternoon of June 29th, we departed at 4 pm Chicago time and had dinner at Liangliang's house in the evening. On June 30th, we began household chores to alleviate the burden on daughter-in-law Meng Lei.
On November 9, 2016 (the tenth day of the tenth lunar month) at 4:30 pm, Andrew M Song (Andy, alias Youyou), the son of Song Liangliang and Meng Lei, was born. Meng Lei’s parents from Xi'an arrived half a month early, allowing us to return to our home country on December 6th. We arrived at Fenghua Garden's house at 10:00 on December 8th and stayed at Liang Lei’s for 161 days
On April 3, 2018 at 13:40, in order to take care of our grandson, we took off from the capital airport for the second time and enjoyed business class. Our daughter-in-law was willing to pay a high price for the cabin. On April 3rd at 14:00 Chicago time, Song Liangliang arrived and picked us up at the airport. We began taking care of Youyou and taking on the responsibility of the family's meals and household chores for the second time.
The turnaround time was on September 27, 2018, departing from Chicago at 4 pm and arriving at Capital International Airport at 6 pm Beijing time on September 28. On the morning of September 29, Liangliang’s colleague Wei Shunchu picked us up at the hotel and took us to Beijing High speed Railway South Station. The train started at 12:30 pm and arrived at Xuzhou East Station High speed Railway Station before 4 pm. Zhang Haitao took us to Fenghua Garden.
Before leaving US on Sept. 27 2018
We are going to the United States for the third time to take care of our grandson. On October 17, 2019, it took off from Capital International Airport at 1pm and arrived at Chicago Airport at 2pm, beginning a six-month American life with the Liang’s family.
On the morning of October 16, 2019, leaving Xuzhou for Beijing, Song Liangliang's classmate Wei Shunchu picked us up at Beijing South Station. We stayed at the reception center of Beihang Training Center that evening and shared dinner with Hou Fengying, our college classmate. Boarding on the afternoon of the 17th, we arrived at Liangliang Home on the afternoon of the 17th Chicago time.
Celebration of Youyou’s third birthday
On December 19, 2019, the family of six first flew to Tampa, Florida, where we stayed for two nights. They rented a car to visit Bush Park in Tampa, and on the third day, they rented a car to drive to Miami, visited the campus and children's playground of the University of Miami, where Liangliang used to pursuing a doctoral degree. They arrived at Key Largo, the southernmost point of the peninsula. We also stayed in Miami for two nights, rented a car, and boarded a cruise ship bound for the Bahamas on the 23rd. We stayed on the ship for four nights and landed on Coco Bay Island and Nassau, the capital of the Bahamas. We took a flight on the afternoon of the 27th and arrived home after dark.
Island of Bahamas
At the beginning of March 2020, the United States began to have COVID-19. We filled in a form to extend the visa, and saw the doctor to write a prescription to buy our old and chronic medicines. Starting from Monday, March 16th, Liang and Lei will work at home, and Angie and Andrew will no longer go to school or kindergarten. On March 26th, Hainan Airlines notified that flights returning to China on April 16th would be suspended. We can only wait patiently for the ticket to be signed.
COVID-19 caused a great deal of trouble. The flight was grounded and we could not return home on time. The biggest trouble was that we could not release the mortgage on our debtor's property on time, and other creditors were urging us to return home again and again. The epidemic is severe, not to mention expensive airfare, the probability of being infected on board is too high, and my son and daughter-in-law are really worried. Life comes first, and we have decided to stay and wait for the epidemic to improve, while also seeking ways to entrust notarization. There is no such thing as a dead end to the road. I heard that the Nanjing Notary Office can do remote video notarization. I immediately contacted notary Wang Peng, but the Nanjing Notary Office cannot do notarization for real estate and property owners in Xuzhou. Wang Peng is a very enthusiastic person. He actually established a connection between the director of the Nanjing Notary Office and that of the Xuzhou Notary Office, and convinced the latter to send a notary to learn the remote notarization video program. The Xuzhou Notary Office accepted my commission application. He is truly my benefactor. On the evening of April 26th at 20:00, we signed remotely via video call with Xuzhou notary Xue Peng as scheduled. The process was not smooth, facial recognition couldn't pass, and Xue Peng even thought it couldn't be done. I begged him not to give up, and after repeated attempts, we finally succeeded. On the afternoon of the 27th (Monday), I asked Song Liang to send our signed power of attorney back to the Xuzhou Notary Office. The notarization process was repeatedly heart pounding, and the lingering fear persisted at night. When I woke up after two o'clock, I couldn't enter the second sleep. Wait, only when the materials arrive at the Xuzhou Notary Office can it be considered successful.
On the evening of May 5th (Tuesday) at 8 pm, and the morning of May 6th at 9 am Beijing time, Xuzhou notary Xue Peng informed that the materials had been received. It took a total of nine days from both ends, which can be considered a relief. Of course, complete peace of mind should be achieved when my trustee successfully cancels and releases the mortgage at the real estate registration office. On May 5th, the notarized certificate came into effect and successfully released the property of a household. The barrier that had been stuck in my mind since the end of November 2019 has finally been completely removed.
Oct 1. 2024
