I love people watching. I love sitting and just watching how people interact with each other. Wondering what they’re doing, where they’re going, who they’re with. One of my favorite places to people watch is the airport. As luck would have it, I found myself in an airport last weekend waiting for my husband to come back from Africa. I had 45 minutes to kill (that’s how long it took him to get through customs and to the baggage claim area!). So, I watched.
I watched as people greeted their loved ones and of course, made up stories for each of them. There was the grandmother travelling from Spain to visit her daughter and son-in-law…and see her grandson for the first time. And the older gentleman greeting his girlfriend, who was young enough to be his daughter. The woman greeting her friend who has travelled across the country to visit with her. The soldiers lucky enough to be returning home on R&R just in time for the holidays and those not-so-lucky soldier who would be celebrating Thanksgiving in Iraq.
And then there was the one I didn’t have to worry about, because he told me everything I needed to know. He hadn’t seen his wife and 11-month-old daughter in three months. He paced nervously, waiting, armed with flowers and a luggage cart. He worried about the flight his wife had, the mood she and their daughter would be in. Nervous about seeing his baby girl again…would she remember him? It was all very sweet! I didn’t get to see the end of that story though as my husband arrived before his wife. In my mind, it was a wonderful homecoming though!
