Saying Goodbye
/
Honestly, who leaves for the airport at 4 a.m.?
High schoolers, I guess. Kate left at that exact time to meet her missions trip group at church on Sunday morning.
Now I ask you, do they really expect all the parents to be there, holding hands in a circle, singing “Blessed Be the Tie That Binds” at 4 a.m.?
I’m new at the missions trip thing. Kate is my oldest, so I’ve never sent someone to a foreign country by herself before. I don’t know how these things are supposed to go.
Just so I can justify my actions (by which I mean getting up at 3:45, carrying her suitcase to the car, giving her a big kiss and a very long hug, and waving goodbye as she and B headed over to church before climbing the stairs and falling back into bed) I’ll tell you my thought process.
First, B was driving a group of kids to the airport, so if I went over to church we would have to take two cars. What with the price of gas these days, it just seemed like an unnecessary expense to take two cars the eight blocks to church. Know what I mean?
Second . . . well, there is no second. I really just figured I would say my goodbyes at home and send them on their merry way.
At 4 a.m.
And then go back to bed. I need my sleep, dontcha know.
So I was quite surprised when B climbed back into bed at 5 a.m. after driving the kids to the airport and said that there were lots of parents at the church, saying goodbye to their kids. Some kids even had BOTH parents there. Hmmm. Zzzzzz.
The next morning I pursued this a little further.
“Really, Chris and Sara were both there?”
“Yep. And Jim and Becky. And the Smiths . . . with their daughter who was staying behind.”
“Oh, it must have been a pretty big group.”
“Yep.”
“Was I supposed to be there?”
“Nah. Nobody missed you.”
“Oh. That’s good . . . I guess.”
But I can’t get that image of the scene at church out of my head. Of excited kids, teary-eyed parents, and bleary-eyed drivers. Loads of luggage. Lots of hugs and laughter and shouts of excitement. The vans starting up and heading off to the airport.
Well, it’s one of those mommy-moments I’ll probably regret for the rest of my life.
On second thought, it was FOUR A.M.! I’ll get over it.
High schoolers, I guess. Kate left at that exact time to meet her missions trip group at church on Sunday morning.
Now I ask you, do they really expect all the parents to be there, holding hands in a circle, singing “Blessed Be the Tie That Binds” at 4 a.m.?
I’m new at the missions trip thing. Kate is my oldest, so I’ve never sent someone to a foreign country by herself before. I don’t know how these things are supposed to go.
Just so I can justify my actions (by which I mean getting up at 3:45, carrying her suitcase to the car, giving her a big kiss and a very long hug, and waving goodbye as she and B headed over to church before climbing the stairs and falling back into bed) I’ll tell you my thought process.
First, B was driving a group of kids to the airport, so if I went over to church we would have to take two cars. What with the price of gas these days, it just seemed like an unnecessary expense to take two cars the eight blocks to church. Know what I mean?
Second . . . well, there is no second. I really just figured I would say my goodbyes at home and send them on their merry way.
At 4 a.m.
And then go back to bed. I need my sleep, dontcha know.
So I was quite surprised when B climbed back into bed at 5 a.m. after driving the kids to the airport and said that there were lots of parents at the church, saying goodbye to their kids. Some kids even had BOTH parents there. Hmmm. Zzzzzz.
The next morning I pursued this a little further.
“Really, Chris and Sara were both there?”
“Yep. And Jim and Becky. And the Smiths . . . with their daughter who was staying behind.”
“Oh, it must have been a pretty big group.”
“Yep.”
“Was I supposed to be there?”
“Nah. Nobody missed you.”
“Oh. That’s good . . . I guess.”
But I can’t get that image of the scene at church out of my head. Of excited kids, teary-eyed parents, and bleary-eyed drivers. Loads of luggage. Lots of hugs and laughter and shouts of excitement. The vans starting up and heading off to the airport.
Well, it’s one of those mommy-moments I’ll probably regret for the rest of my life.
On second thought, it was FOUR A.M.! I’ll get over it.
