Add up the following:
1 hour for mass transit time limitations
1 hour for my generally high-strung travel state
1 hour for my exuberance to see my friends
2 hours as the recommend time you arrive prior to an international flight.
What you get:
Me! Arriving a terribly prepared 5 hours prior to take off. There is nothing to do when you are 5 hours early for a flight except to attempt check-in. Usually airline security won't allow check-in 'til 3 hours before the flight. I was early enough to explain to the airline attendant that the mass transit time table isn't really my fault but a monolithic governmental agency's fault. I also had time to explain that my neurotic and happily-high-strung travel state isn't really my fault but more a product of growing up in Minnesota under the tutelage of my mom. The very kind gate keeper checked in me and my bags. He smiled and said, "You must make good friends."
I do. I do make very good friends. I have made friends with my siblings and my parents and even people that were once strangers. It is these friends, who were once strangers, that flew last week over a continent and survived a New York City bomb scare to heal my homesickness. They left flu-ridden children, overworked spouses, and really great weather just to care for me.
It is these friends whose lovers and partners and husbands know that it is best to help us go and do the work of friendship. They know that when we get together, for an hour or a day or a week, we all return as better people.
Due to my husband's work, we have lived all over the states and even a different country. Home is where I grew up, Rochester. But it is also Seattle, San Francisco, Wilmington, and Madison.This bright morning I took my questionably dressed children to the park. There I met friends who were once strangers in this foreign country. I found myself needed in a whole new place on this earth. As I stood there, I realized that I am not homesick. I am home-abundant. We are halfway through our tenure here. While I do not know where we will land next, I now most certainly know that I will find a home.
