Member-only story
Got Out the Door
(Photo is property of author)
Leaving is the hardest part.
It’s been three years since I flew internationally and I have completely lost my blasé approach to criss-crossing timezones. I used to be a serious wanderer, but these past few years have zapped the energy for travel right out of me. Even as I write this, my first installment of #LeslieandCarrieclimbamountain I’m not sure how I got myself into this. Yet here I am in one of four airports I will travel through in the next 24 hours.
This morning, as I tried to wrap my head around the journey ahead, I lingered over breakfast with my teen daughter. She was the only one eating.
“What?” She was immediately suspicious of my presence at the table as I normally leave her to fend for herself.
“You’re a good kid you know that?” It was a complement, but it made me sound needy. Which I was. This kid doesn’t need my complements, and this one left her utterly unmoved.
“Mom.”
“What?”
“Stop being weird”
“I’m…..”
“Yes you are. You’re freaking out a little. Everything’s fine.”
“Ok….”
I sat there silently slurping my coffee and continued to take in my daughter’s profile. She chewed her toaster…