a parable (unlocked)

Getting to the airport on Tuesday was quite an adventure - one that ultimately ended happily, but I didn't know for sure that I was going to get on my plane until I was on it. A few minutes before which, at about 6:10 pm, a young woman comes rushing up to the shortish security line (the only line) at whose end I am standing and says "Does anyone mind if I go ahead, because my flight is at 6:30?"

I said - not unkindly, I hope - "Mine's at 6:20, honey." And started to go on about how we were all trying to catch planes and we'd have to move as efficiently as possible.

At which point the woman who was second in line said, "Come on up here - you should both go in front of me."


From this I take two very valuable lessons, namely: no matter what's making you frantic and desperate, it's worth not forgetting that other people have got shit going on too; and, help is not only available but in fact on offer if you only let someone know you need it. I knew both of these things, of course, but it was good to have the reminder two nights before Thanksgiving.

My dad is hanging in there. He wants so badly to feel better, and it's breaking his heart to be breaking ours. I was doing really well not falling to pieces until this morning, when an argument with my sister-in-law over whether I was talking about permutations or combinations reduced me to a weeping wreck for close to an hour (not because of permutations or even because I was arguing with her, of course, but because I was already so fragile and today is the day I'm leaving).

My brother brought me to the airport and I'm having a glass of wine before boarding. I've had a lot of wine in the past couple of days, and a lot of ice cream. I know you're all telling me to be sure to take care of myself, but maybe I'd better be sure I'm not drinking too much.