14th April 2022
The day I had been waiting for had finally arrived, all that stood before me and a green card was a drive to Detroit, and the interview.
We set off at 7.30am, climbed into the big Nissan and started rumbling down South Shore Drive. It was a long and tiring one hundred and eighty eight miles. When we eventually arrived, there was a car park, at a government building?. I slid the Huge beast into a parking slot breathing a sigh of relief having got here unscathed.
The appointment was set for 11.15am and we were about half an hour early. By this time poor Kelli needed the bathroom, she had managed to hold off for all of the three hours journey time, but first we had to go through the security. That complete, she rushed off to the ladies, and you could hear the big sigh of relief echo though the hallways.
We were called through to a large waiting area, and once checked in we waited our turn.
The officer came out to meet us, he called out “ Peter Bute”, Kelli jumped up and dragged me along. “ Did I pronounce it wrong” he said, “Yep!” She replied, putting him right
He led us into a small room, warning us that there would be another person in the room. He explained that he was a trainee and the other person was a trainer . So basically he was an apprentice, so it could horribly wrong. For one, he could be strict, trying to impress his trainer, or, be a complete beginner by which it could be a doddle.
Fortunately the atmosphere was light and friendly, and the questions were easy to respond to. The main theme was about us as a married couple, and we had to tell them how we met. I began to feel a little better and not so nervous, although we were told at the start to turn off our phones, which was a blow as we had lots of pictures and documents stored on them. But we didn’t need them as Kelli had brought her scrapbook with lots of dates and photos which seemed to satisfied them.
There were two minor hiccups, Kelli got my birthday date confused with her dad’s which was two days later than mine, and I got my mother’s names mixed up, but we rescued those pretty quick.
Secretly I was concerned that I didn’t have my original birth certificate. I took it back to the UK on my last return trip. I feared that if they asked to see it again it would be curtains for me and my chances of a green card would vaporise.
Imagine my relief that the subject didn’t come up. The knot in my stomach untied itself, it was like having the world’s greatest dump.
The interview lasted about an hour, which was quite long, but as we were led out by the trainer lady she hinted that there shouldn’t be a problem getting the card.
Now it was the long drive back, the sun was out, a wind was blowing and we were smiling and high fiveing each other.
One we got back to Holland I had to fill the beast with fuel, $72 later I dropped it back to the rental office, once home again I just wanted to sleep, there was a huge weight off my shoulders.
My rest was cut short because we had people coming to collect a dresser, a welcomed sale at the end of an epic day.
Another Lifetime to go 