The Way She Said Goodbye
The comings and goings at airports have always fascinated me. Over the years, I’ve said goodbye to many friends and relatives who have travelled extensively or moved to faraway places.
When I was about 10 years old, one of my favourite aunties moved to the US permanently. Ours was a big family, so the send-off caused quite a commotion. We hired 2 big vans so the entire family of about 19 adults and 15 kids could go to the airport. We arrived about 4 hours before she had to board the plane. It was a long arduous goodbye with a lot of tears. My mother led our tiny tribe in all this. Songs were sung (somebody actually brought a guitar!), bread was broken and lots and lots of farewell messages were said out loud. We did all this by the airport departure area, so just imagine the chaos.
More than 25 years later, it was my turn to take that plane ride to start a new life elsewhere. The send-off party was significantly smaller — just my immediate family. My mother has aged significantly now. Her salt and pepper hair was telling of her age. She sat in her wheelchair and was pushed around by my elder brother. Despite her much-weakened state, her spirit was strong as was her flair for dramatic goodbyes.
I stood beside my mother’s wheelchair as my three-year-old rattled off about all the exciting things she was going to see. My other brother went off to look…
