I’m sitting in the KLM lounge, waiting for the call to board. I can see the big 747 right in front of me and I am watching the loading process of cargo with an air of nostalgia. Seems so long ago that I too was a ramp rat. Loading the airplanes, running around with a set of light wands in the pockets of my coveralls, perfumed in Jet A (aka kerosene) and generally cussing up a storm and paying no attention to the state of my hair. Years later, I still don’t worry much about my hair, my sense of smell has recovered from the exposure to jet fuel and I still have a pair of my light wands in the storage closet.

Leaving here is a little bittersweet. I had to get out of the car before I lost my composure and cried on Rupert, Cedric and Meredith. We had a super dinner last night at The Chicago Dinner (slogan Meat free since 83) and spent the evening watching House Hunters International and creating stormy digestive clouds. Those are the things that we consider family bonding.

It will be good to be home. And I have 14 packs of tortillas with me. So, we are good until my next trip to the US in July. I can’t wait to hug the pets and to get on my bike. And to go back to shopping in tiny grocery stores. I had information overload in the pharmacy here and in the grocery stores. I have a new found appreciation of how BIG everything is in the US.

Anyway, I’ll write more in the next few days. The wedding survived us 😉 and we did okay with each other. I think Mom would have been proud because I remember her saying after Thanksgiving to the oncologist that all her kids had gotten along for the day and even if they were faking it, that just proved they could do it.