Against the Departing Crowds

Sent the kids off today.  Send the kids off to school every day.  Drop them off at the main gate, send them to a friend’s, promise to return later after driving them up to the doctor’s door.  Today my wife and I sent them off to immigration.  That’s a first.  I’ve always known it was possible for kids to fly, unaccompanied.  I’d seen kids tethered to stewardesses on my United flights before.  Either my wife or myself have always accompanied our kids on the many flights they’ve taken. 

This year it just made more sense to have them travel solo and as it was a direct flight, I assumed it would all be straightforward.  It was.  United mentioned that minors were no longer allowed to travel on flights with transfers by themselves.  But direct flights were OK.  So I set it up so I would drop them off and my parents would pick them up.

The little one was a bit nervous.  The big one was nonplussed. “What? It’s no big deal.” And of course, I reiterated that it would all be just like they’d done it, one hundred times before.  United has suggested that I could walk them all the way out to the gate, but I was informed on arrival today that this would not be possible.  A stewardess would accompany them.  We joked about how it would be worse if it were to be a “steward.”  My wife and I got them some cash to travel with and snack at Starbucks and then rendezvous-ed with the lady who was to accompany them. 

And then, like all the young lovers do or the business delegations do, we walked them as far as we could go, to the boarding gate for the train out to immigration at The Beijing Capital Airport, Terminal Three.  We snapped some photos and waved them off.  We agreed to sit around and kill time at a restaurant until we knew they were on the plane. 

A bad bowl of soup and a few messages later and we rose and made our way against the departing crowds, towards the ramp to the parking lot.   Slowly, texting with the girls, my wife and I walked back to our family sized automobile. I felt, oddly as if I’d somehow just sent them both off to college.  I felt as if I were anticipating by a few years the rest of my life. 

My older one sent me a photo of her sitting on the plane.  I sent one back.  Then the younger one sent a close up of her face.  I sent one back.  My phone was running out of power and I had someone I should have been calling for business.  But I ran my battery out sending goofy photos back and forth, until I had no more power, just as someone was telling them to power off as well.