It was a long flight from Paris to Atlanta and I hadn't actually put together that I was about to have to say goodbye to Abby. We knew that I was most likely going to miss my flight from Atlanta to Dallas, but I had to take the one they scheduled me and knew they'd put me on the next available one. But that meant that I'd have to make a run for it as soon as we hit the gate. With about 30 minutes left of the flight, Abby got out a card and said, "Well, I want to give this to you before it gets too crazy." That's the first time it hit me. Things had been so crazy up to that point that I hadn't remembered I'd have to say goodbye to her too.
I booked it to claim my bags, go through customs, re-check my bags, and sprint to my gate. One of my bags didn't make it, so I was still standing at the carousel when Abby came in. We hugged one last time and took off...her to go see her family & friends...and me to miss my flight.
I called Connie to let her know that I'd be even later...again...and sat alone, waiting for my flight. I was so, so, so tired. So, so, so sad. And so, so, so anxious to get home. And I felt so lonely! It was weird.
I had butterflies in my stomach all the way to Texas, but man was I tired! I landed and began walking to baggage claim, already dreading the hassle of explaining that one of them had never made it to Atlanta...then I remembered that they would speak English!! Yay!
I saw the revolving door that led to baggage claim and I could already see my mom, dad, and brother through the door. I walked straight through and into their arms. It felt even better than when they came to see me because now I was home. Then I saw my best friends, Kristin & Paige, and their family and thought, oh cool, the Lewises came too! Then I turned to my left and saw a whole line of people, a whole line of familiar faces that I hadn't seen in forever. I was overwhelmed with happiness and the realization that I probably looked like a train wreck. I really thought my parents and brother would be the only ones there, but there was person after person that I wanted to just hug for 10 minutes each. It was perfect.
I went and talked to the baggage people in English and my missing bag was delivered to my parents' house the next day. Crazy! When we got to my parents' house that night I just remember thinking that it was so cozy and comfortable and clean and it smelled so good. They'd left Christmas decorations up so that we could have Christmas and it was the most beautiful sight. It was a Saturday night and I knew that if I woke up in time I just wouldn't even be able to stay away from my church, Bear Creek. I didn't set an alarm, though, because I knew I needed the rest. Well I woke up bright and early at 5 am, so I decided to go. It was a good thing, too, because it had been a while since I took a shower, dried my hair, put on makeup, and got dressed to go somewhere. I got in my little Kia that I had missed so much and took off on the 45 minute drive. The roads were so smooth and I could go so fast! I had to restrain myself from honking at every little thing. And in one spot I accidentally started to pass a motorcycle on the shoulder while honking...I realized what I was doing and slowed down and got back on the road.
I finally got to church and...well, honestly, I didn't really know what to do with myself. I found out that I didn't really know how to answer questions about Mali and I definitely didn't know how to answer questions about what I was going to do next. It was a weird, awkward morning, but I kind of loved it.
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