I’ll Fly Away

The Durango airport is like a step back in time. It has one concession store and one gift store. There’s a baggage area, a few ticket and rental car counters, and a waiting area. And one “gate”. When you get on and off a plane you walk on the tarmac and climb stairs. As if you’re leaving on a private plane or Air Force One. There’s the small TSA screening area between the front area and the “gate” area. And double doors that are opened when people get off an arriving plane. 

I took Kathy and Ali this morning for their return trip to Houston. We hugged and said our “I love you’s”. As they got in the TSA screening line I stood off to the side trying not to cry. It’s been a rough week for the family, especially for Kathy. We lost one of our “anchor” people, the ones that keep us rooted. Behind Kathy and Ali a woman was in line for screening. With her was a huge bear of a man. He wasn’t fat, just huge. Bear size with a blond beard and a ball cap. I’m guessing the woman was his mom. They hugged and said their “I love you’s”. 

Then he came over and stood in the small area I was in. His mom turned around and threw him a kiss. We both stood there until our people were out of sight, focused on them as they moved through the screening. Ready in case there was a problem. Ready in case they needed us. 

In the old days before bad people realized you could use planes as weapons for chaos and destruction we would have been able to sit with the people we loved until they got on the plane. And watch out the window until the plane took off and was out of sight. Our people hanging up there in the sky for hours on their way home or on an adventure or responding to a call from someone who needed them. Come here, come now, my world has taken a hit. We need you. And we go, we don’t make excuses, we don’t say it’s too far, we have obligations. We just go. We might designate the one to go as the others take up the slack at home but we go. 

It’s hard watching someone fly off. Wondering when we’ll see them again. Knowing sometimes we never do. And so the younger Bear man and the older gray haired woman stood watching our people until they were out of sight. Hoping the love we send them off with gets them safely to where they’re headed.