We haven’t been traveling much lately . . . I know . . . we’re not the only ones. It’s not like we were big travelers anyway, but the inability to do so from caregiving, the pandemic, etc., really made an impact. The biggest impact was not being able to visit Justine and her children in Arizona. We’ve only seen the twins a handful of times since they were born and most of the visits were when they were infants and toddlers. Now that they’re older, we can interact with them so much more. So, when it dawned on us that travel was on the table, we made reservations to visit them for their sixth birthday.
To say we had a good time is an understatement; what actually happened was some much-needed Gramma-therapy. (And Papa therapy, too.) The kids woke us up in the morning and we got to tuck them in at night. We picked them up at school, attended their swim lessons, took them to the science museum and birthday shopping. We took walks, built Legos and read books. There was cake, sweet treats, breakfasts, lunches and dinners. We got a full dose of grandtwins energy and love. (And some time with Justine, too!) It might have been Maddie and Aiden’s birthday, but we got the gift of being able to spend such meaningful time with them.
But even with all that activity, I had time to visit with a couple of friends. Women I am only in touch with via social media or briefly when we happen to be in Maine together once a year. With each of them, I was only able to fit in a lunch, but being able to sit with these humans, catch up, laugh and talk to each other was such a rewarding experience. Each time, I feel like I was filled back up from the stress of the last—what’s it been? Seven years? Both women gave me time and attention that can only be gained from in-person, face-to-face engagements. There’s something about sitting with a person in their place, their element, and even in a restaurant there’s a discernible confidence that is quite comforting. The same happened with Justine and her family—being with them in their home, in their place provided us a glimpse into their real lives. I mean, I LOVE when the kids come and see us, but when people are in their element, it shows up in so many effortless ways.
Of course, then we had to travel back home. On the morning of our flight, after I had cleaned the bathroom, stripped the bed AND washed and dried the sheets, we got the news that the entire FAA system was a down and nobody was going anywhere. As confident a traveler as I am, I began to get anxious. A lot was going on at home besides the usual meetings, appointments and obligations. The outage wasn’t just about me—tons of travelers, airline personnel and families were impacted—but I sure started getting annoyed when phone call after phone call couldn’t get us on a plane to go home. I began to think how unfair it was and how I had to use my iPad instead of my computer, which was at home waiting to be repaired, the appointment for which I would now miss and how hard it was to reschedule all my Zoom meetings. I got cranky.
To add to the crankiness, I started getting nervous about the antique silver penknife that had apparently made it through the White Plains TSA. There it was in my carryon bag when we arrived in Phoenix and the longer I thought about bringing it back, the more worried I got that it would be found this time. I pictured it throbbing in my luggage like the Telltale Heart and me blurting out, “Okay! Fine! I have a knife!”
And then I realized—I was in Arizona. Where it was warm. With Justine. I didn’t have a boss with whom I’d get in trouble for missing work. My car was safe at my brother-in-law’s home so I didn’t have to pay extra for airport parking and there wasn’t really anything that I couldn’t reschedule, manage or miss or do from my iPad for goodness sake’s. What was I complaining about again?
Mark Twain said about travel…
“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry and narrow-mindedness and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one’s lifetime.”
Hopefully my bigotry and narrow-mindedness is in check, but I definitely, sorely needed travel to be fatal to my one-little-corner perspective. We would get home eventually. Maybe with some discomfort, but nothing really tragic. Reuniting with Justine and the kids, savoring in-person friendships and being reminded about my place in this world is a lucky lesson. One I might need over and over again.
I’m a little late this week, but, you know…I’ve been traveling! I’ll be back on track next week!
This was beautiful, Cindy. You capture the special of life’s ordinary.
I’m glad you had a good visit.
Glad you got to enjoy time with your family and that you can treasure the memories. Kids are such a joy at any age, but six is really fun.