Live! - from the Airport

As I sit here alone in the airport with two hours to kill before my flight, I look in front of me at an empty chair in the waiting area.  I think of how many thousands and thousands of people have sat in that chair and what their stories entail.  

Airports are fascinating places.  People from all walks of life cross my path right now.  I like to people watch.  I like to imagine where they are coming from and where they are going.  

I think of a few memorable times in my life I've been waiting in a chair like this and I smile. The first flight I ever took I was with my dad. He took my sister and I on a father/daughter trip. We went to Toronto for the weekend.  He took us to see Phantom of the Opera and to museums...etc.  He mistakenly took us to a Pink Floyd laser show.  Little did he know it would be filled with young college kids all higher than kites.  Not quite the place he wanted to take his two daughters.  I didn't realize it at the time, but he and my sister did.  It's funny to look back at that now.  

My next flight, at the age of 15, was with with my friend Natalie.  We went on a Caribbean Cruise and I don't recall ever being more excited for anything in my entire life.  Ever.  The anticipation of getting to Miami to board that ship was almost too much for us to handle. 

I think of the time, four years ago, I flew to Florida with my friend Leslie (who I am meeting up with in Vegas tonight).  I lied to my parents about where we stayed that trip and I've still never told them the truth.  You know when you see those flyers for vacations that are ridiculously cheap?  They claim you will stay in five star resorts for virtually no money? Well my dad warned me over and over "if something sounds too good to be true, it probably is".  I was adamant I knew what I was doing and he was wrong.  But boy was he right. But I would not tell him that.  When we got there it really was a scam and we had to scramble to find places to stay. But I went home and told my dad the resort was "beautiful".  In the end it worked out anyway. Eventually we rented a car, left Orlando and had one of the best days I can ever remember. Riding on the back of a Harley all day long.  A day of sunshine, smelling the ocean and not having a care in the world.  It was amazing. 

So here I sit again, about to embark on a new adventure.  I look ahead of me now and wonder what everyone else here is doing. Someone going to meet a long lost friend? Internet lovers meeting for the first time? Attending a funeral? Celebrating a birth? Adopting a baby? A medical appointment to bring sad news? happy news? A business trip?  A "business trip" that is actually a secret affair? A simple vacation for a family to share? A random adventure with no plan in mind (the best kind)? A brand new start?  Or an end to the past?

So many possibilities.