Swiss Family Hill

The sun shone brightly on August 28. Dave was well again, but pale. We returned the rental car and sat outside the hotel waiting for the limo to JFK. All around us were our smallest subset of bags. Two checked bags and a carry-on bag each. We owned no more property in the US. The house and the cars were gone. We had said our goodbyes to Jake and Ben and my sister Linda and the folks back home. All of the little strings that tether you to who you are and where you belong have been cut.

The limo drove unimpeded to the airport. (The day before a huge sign was knocked down onto the highway blocking traffic for hours!) We were scolded for the weight of our bags, but if I could pick them up so could the baggage handler. I had no sympathy for them at this point. Dave escorted me to the lounge to wait. Since he travelled so frequently, he knew a lot about how to pass the time pleasantly at the airport. (When I had flown out alone to meet him in Europe last summer, I didn’t get to sit in the fancy business class lounge sipping free drinks! I got to avoid the drunken travellers who waited for the overdue flight on the hard little chairs while drinking $5 bottles of soda. Hmm. )

We used up the rest of our cell phone battery calling relatives and friends for one last goodbye. Almost no one was home. Work was still going on across America, I guess. No holiday had been declared at our leaving.

We boarded the plane. Business class rocks, by the way. The seats are huge and they recline all the way and you get to board first. I got to watch Slumdog Millionaire on my own little screen. I ate tortellini in cheese sauce with a nice side salad, and for dessert we ate Ben & Jerry’s ice cream sundaes (Dave’s favorite part of travelling!)

All the work is done. There are no more big decisions to make for this move. We are on a conveyor belt now where everything is moving along without any input on our part. Someone else if flying the plane. Someone else has our air shipment. Someone else has our household goods. Our boys are capable and living on their own. There is a temporary apartment awaiting our arrival. The apartment we’ll live in is nearly ready for us. A sense of calm came over me. I relax.  (That’s what that feels like!)