No one waiting

I flew home from Costa Rica this past week.  It was the first time I'd traveled by plane since Mom died.  Normally I would have checked in at every point.  "At the airport."  "On the plane."  "Just landed in Houston."   "I'll call when I land in Lafayette."   

   It had been a good trip.  We stayed busy and being responsible for 17 college students kept me occupied both mentally and physically.  So there wasn't much time to think.  But coming home was different. As I landed in Houston it hit me...no one was waiting.  No one was waiting for the phone call.  No one was waiting to see me.  For 10 days, no one had been waiting and there was no one waiting now.  I got my luggage, walked to my car and cried all the way home.  

It is these moments that matter most and the ones we take most for granted.  Just part of life's routine.  If I could go back in time, I'd cherish those phone calls that sometimes seemed a nuisance. I wouldn't take them for granted.  But so often, we go through life believing that someone will always be there waiting and we don't realize how comfortable that feeling is until it's gone.