Unclaimed Baggage

I started this blog more than a week ago, but I needed to wait a bit before posting it. That didn’t stop me from needing to start it early. I always find it best to start writing as soon as I have an idea or I will end up forgetting it or it will turn into something different. This story starts back several years ago. After a lot of introspection, I have come to realize a number of things about the final years in Cincinnati. The easiest thing to put together was that I was depressed. I honestly didn’t think of myself as being that way at the time. I think it just crept up on me and camped out for a few years.

Taking the job with so much travel was like a much needed breath of fresh air. Sure, being on the road was hard, but sometimes being at home was harder. I was restless a lot. I made some bad choices along the way out of boredom, mostly. One of the more depressing moments involved with travel was actually arriving at my home airport. In particular, it was seeing all the people that were there to meet other travelers. The family members with signs and balloons and eager looks on their faces made me sad. Of course, I always felt a little childish for being jealous of these people, but that didn’t mean I didn’t feel it.

I think it was worse after the war started. Then it was seeing loved ones being dropped off and picked up. I saw it coming and going. I was the sole participant in my pity party. I told myself I was being juvenile. It seemed like such a small thing to get upset over. After all the years of traveling, you can become numb to almost anything you see at the airport. It’s a bit of a different experience now in my new home airport. Now there are groups of people traveling together. I don’t see so many of the business travelers at the airport. Oh, I know they are there, but it doesn’t seem so obvious now. Still, I can’t help but feel the same twinge when I am standing at baggage claim or schlepping out to wherever I have left my car this week.

I bring all this happy memory stuff up because something unexpected and wonderful has been offered to me. I told Steve about my upcoming trip and he made the offer to take me to the airport and to pick me up. He mentioned it over the phone, so he never really saw my reaction. To him, I’m sure he just thought he was making a nice gesture. He has no way of knowing the impact the offer made. I haven’t told him either. I suppose I would feel a bit silly to make a big deal over something he would probably offer to do for anyone. Still, it is a gesture made all the more meaningful because if was freely offered and I never had to ask. It never occurred to me to ask.

The day he is picking me up is my birthday, which probably prompted the offer in the first place. I’m not going to split hairs about it though. He also said he wanted to get me something for my birthday. He doesn’t realize he has already offered up something I always wanted. It is a special gift and if I’m the only one that knows about it, that’s fine with me. Besides, it will be interesting to see what he comes up with.