Apparently that would be a "yes". Yay!
Hiking exploits, experimental cooking, general nerdery, and cat pictures.
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Friday, April 9, 2010
Homecoming
About a month ago, I made a whirlwind, 22-hour trip to Maryland for work. I complained well and mightily about my time in the Philadelphia airport on Facebook at the time, but I never mentioned what I saw at the Manchester airport first.
As I sat waiting for my flight, I noticed two little boys, maybe around ages 4 and 6, hanging around my gate. They had various adult-type people with them, including one woman with a camera around her neck. I thought "oh cute, it must be their first flight and mom's taking pictures of them waiting for the plane" and went back to my book. Looked up again a couple of minutes later and noticed the boys had 1) posterboard signs with them and 2) American flags in their hands. About then the inbound plane arrived at the gate, all the adult-type people clustered around the boys, and it occurred to me that I was about to see a reuniting family.
As the inbound passengers started coming off the plane and the family members rearranged themselves, several things happened in quick succession. I realized that the woman with the camera probably wasn't mom, but an aunt/sister type. It was pretty clear another woman standing next to the boys was mom. Dad came off the plane and immediately dropped to a knee and swept the two little boys into a bear hug. Dad stood up, mom turned towards him, and before they embraced I noticed she's wearing a baby in a Snuggli - likely a girl judging by all the pink. The baby looked about 4 months old. The family definitely looks like dad's been gone longer than 4 months. Which means it is entirely possible that this is the first time dad is meeting his daughter. I have no idea what happened after that, because I grabbed my carry-on and headed to the restroom to take care of whatever had gotten into my eyes to make them all teary.
Now I was raised to possess a relatively healthy level of social manners and mores - in other words, I try not to openly stare at people in public and generally try to give strangers their privacy. At the same time, I have a soft spot for members of the military, and especially for military families. So yes, I watched, even though it was none of my business. I tried to be as inconspicuous as possible, and I'm sure the family in question didn't even notice me - they had much more important things on their minds. I'm not sure what my fellow waiting passengers thought about the businesswoman in their midst who was openly staring at strangers, tearing up, and then running to the bathroom to cry in private. I'm also pretty sure I don't care what any of them thought either!
Now, a month later as I write this, something else has occurred to me. I was sitting at my gate, watching all of this unfold. The inbound plane the dad came in on was the same plane on which I was outbound. In other words, I was past security - as were these 3-4 adults and 3 kids. I don't think they were meeting at the airport and flying on together to somewhere else - none of the waiting family had any carry-on type things with them. I don't know if my local airport routinely lets military families through security to meet homecoming service members, if this was a special circumstance, if the family had bought tickets they had no plans of using just to get through security (last one seems pretty unlikely). In retrospect, it has been years since I've seen a gate-side welcome home, and it's probably unlikely I'll see one again. I'm glad I saw this one.
As I sat waiting for my flight, I noticed two little boys, maybe around ages 4 and 6, hanging around my gate. They had various adult-type people with them, including one woman with a camera around her neck. I thought "oh cute, it must be their first flight and mom's taking pictures of them waiting for the plane" and went back to my book. Looked up again a couple of minutes later and noticed the boys had 1) posterboard signs with them and 2) American flags in their hands. About then the inbound plane arrived at the gate, all the adult-type people clustered around the boys, and it occurred to me that I was about to see a reuniting family.
As the inbound passengers started coming off the plane and the family members rearranged themselves, several things happened in quick succession. I realized that the woman with the camera probably wasn't mom, but an aunt/sister type. It was pretty clear another woman standing next to the boys was mom. Dad came off the plane and immediately dropped to a knee and swept the two little boys into a bear hug. Dad stood up, mom turned towards him, and before they embraced I noticed she's wearing a baby in a Snuggli - likely a girl judging by all the pink. The baby looked about 4 months old. The family definitely looks like dad's been gone longer than 4 months. Which means it is entirely possible that this is the first time dad is meeting his daughter. I have no idea what happened after that, because I grabbed my carry-on and headed to the restroom to take care of whatever had gotten into my eyes to make them all teary.
Now I was raised to possess a relatively healthy level of social manners and mores - in other words, I try not to openly stare at people in public and generally try to give strangers their privacy. At the same time, I have a soft spot for members of the military, and especially for military families. So yes, I watched, even though it was none of my business. I tried to be as inconspicuous as possible, and I'm sure the family in question didn't even notice me - they had much more important things on their minds. I'm not sure what my fellow waiting passengers thought about the businesswoman in their midst who was openly staring at strangers, tearing up, and then running to the bathroom to cry in private. I'm also pretty sure I don't care what any of them thought either!
Now, a month later as I write this, something else has occurred to me. I was sitting at my gate, watching all of this unfold. The inbound plane the dad came in on was the same plane on which I was outbound. In other words, I was past security - as were these 3-4 adults and 3 kids. I don't think they were meeting at the airport and flying on together to somewhere else - none of the waiting family had any carry-on type things with them. I don't know if my local airport routinely lets military families through security to meet homecoming service members, if this was a special circumstance, if the family had bought tickets they had no plans of using just to get through security (last one seems pretty unlikely). In retrospect, it has been years since I've seen a gate-side welcome home, and it's probably unlikely I'll see one again. I'm glad I saw this one.
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