Friday while we were at the airport waiting for our students to arrive, I witnessed several joy-filled reunions of family and friends. Seeing what are usually more private emotions played out publicly and right in front of you is a little like watching really good acting. It’s very moving.
I saw one woman who appeared to be met by two friends. Instead of waiting for her to clear the long, cordoned-off exit area at international arrival gate A, they rushed up to her from the end of it and accompanied her the rest of the way, all clearly happy to see each other again and share life again.
Then I watched a woman, who was maybe in her fifties, run up and duck under the rope marking off the exit area in her eagerness to reach who I took to be her husband. He, however, was so close to the rope that as she ducked under, she got a bit stuck between his leg and his luggage cart. When they got her sorted out, she was bouncing with eagerness to see him and kiss him. It was clearly the last thing on her mind that she may have looked silly bent over double with her head against his leg.
Finally, and viewed very up close, was a long embrace between a mother and her son, who I put at about 20 years old. The length of their hug, as well as the look on their faces, clearly showed their mutual satisfaction in being together once again.
Seeing love so clearly expressed can fill up one’s emotional gas tank for a long time. I even had the thought that maybe I should hang out at the airport at home sometime, just for the good feeling such scenes might give me. But I suspect somehow that being so far from home myself gave my glimpses of these relationships their special resonance…
No comments:
Post a Comment