01 January, 2009

Mother's tears

Goodbyes, it's one of those things I'm not very good at.

Standing in the 5:30am Portland wind and rain, holding mother as she cried in my arms, was heartbreaking. I'm sure my absence is much harder on mother than on me. I am leaving once again for another continent, and with the exception of this weekend in Washington, DC, will be away from family for the better part of 2009.

Arriving at Portland International Airport this morning, I saw scenes similar to what I went through earlier; mothers saying goodbye to sons and daughters; families saying farewell to departing fathers and mothers. Before 9/11, I never noticed how many military personnel move through civilian airports. Since Oregon does not have a federal military base, and judging by their unit insignias, many servicemen and women I saw this morning are reservists and national guards being deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan. What a challenging farewell and start of a new year for their families!

3 comments:

Paddy in BA (Quickroute) said...

Chin up! - Big adventures ahead! Suerte!

Baino said...

Ah I know those teary hugs all to well . . they hit you on the return leg also! Although tomorrow, I get the opportunity to hug a friend who's arriving for a few weeks so that will be awesome.

Bon Voyage Teddles, I'm sure you'll have a wonderful time and I'm so looking forward to posts of your adventure. Happy New year and you keep in touch now.

TCL said...

@ Quick - see you in a bit!

@ Baino - can't say I can ever get used to the tears. Keep in touch.