Got Out the Door

Leslie Kleinberg Zacks
4 min readNov 29, 2022

(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…

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Leslie Kleinberg Zacks

Writing about whatever I feel like. Mom with a career. Filled with love and rage. It’s cool- I’m not for everyone. twitter @lesliezacks zacks.leslie@gmail.com