Evan Surprised Mommy at the Great Wall

A little over a month ago, Olivia, Evan and I went back to China to visit my family, especially my dad who has been sick. Evan hadn't been to the Great Wall, so on a very beautiful fall day, together with a couple of tourists from Singapore and Germany, we went to Ju Yong Guan (Ju Yong Pass/Gate), which is famous for the steepness of this section of the wall.  

Even though Evan is skinny, he is very good at climbing and he loves to lead the pack. He led the entire time when we climbed the Fo Xiang Ge in the Summer Palace (Pavilion of the Fragrance of Buddha). I had to constantly call him to stop before he disappeared from my sight. The section to the first Feng Huo Tai (beacon) seemed to be the steepest, we were already out of breath after just 5-minute of climbing. Even Evan was saying: Wow, this is hard!  

After we got to the first Feng Huo Tai, Olivia appeared pretty pale and told me that her stomach hadn't been feeling well since that morning and it was getting worse. She wasn't sure she could keep on climbing anymore. Evan, on the other hand, after warming up from the first section, was all ready to climb to the top…and I was torn in the middle.  

I didn't want to leave Olivia alone since she didn't feel well and could not hold a conversation in Chinese, but then the whole purpose of the trip was for Evan to climb the Great Wall. Seeing me being torn to make a decision, Olivia said her pain was not too bad and suggested that Evan and I keep on climbing.  She would go down to the restroom and stay with the tour guide on the tour bus, which I could see clearly at the bottom of the wall. I finally agreed, so Evan and I continued climbing again and pretty soon Olivia was out of our sight.    

However, the more I climbed, the more my heart became unsettled and I wondered whether I had made a mistake letting her go down by herself. Although she is tall, she is only 11, still a kid. She cannot hold a conversation in Chinese and she was not feeling well. Her pain could get worse; she may cry and even worse, faint from the pain. What if someone saw her suffer and sent her to the hospital? Then I would have no clue where to find her…which means I could lose my child! The more I thought like this, the more worried I became. Finally with only two Feng Huo Tai's remaining before the top, I told Evan that I was worried about his sister so much that we needed to go back and find her.  

Thankfully Evan was okay with it. Even though he really wanted to climb to the top, he understood finding his sister was more important. I was getting very anxious when we approached the bottom, I said to Evan: "Mommy shouldn't let Olivia get back down herself, what if we can not find her?" Evan, who has always been like a baby to me said something which really surprised me: "Mom, don't worry, she will be okay". I didn't know whether he really felt that way or he said it just to calm me down.  But it was a touching moment to me when I heard it – my baby boy can console his mother now.  

Well, Olivia was not on the bus, actually nobody was there even though the tour guide said she would wait for us there. My heart went directly in my throat, again Evan said: "Don't worry mom, let's go check the restroom" and luckily she was there. I would freak out if she wasn't.  

My heart finally was at peace. Evan then turned to me and said: "See? I told you she would be okay. Now I want a toy as a prize!"