Flying A Little Farther From the Nest

I dropped Caleb and Seth off at the airport today. They were flying alone to San Diego, to visit friends from our first year in Shanghai. Although they've done a fair amount of traveling, it's always been with us. And although they've been away from us on school trips, and just recently been at camp for a couple of weeks, and even taken taxis around Shanghai by themselves, they've never flown alone, without any adult supervision. They had a layover on the way to San Diego, where they'd have to find the next gate on time to make the flight.

So this felt different. But we'd gone over all the details. The boys felt confident. I felt confident. They had a cell phone. They had their boarding passes already printed out. They weren't checking any luggage. They were being met at the airport in San Diego by our friends. And they were together. Everything would be just fine.

When we got to the airport, I pulled up to the curb. They were going to go in alone, without me. So we got their backpacks with skateboards strapped onto the back out of the trunk, then I took a quick picture and gave them each a hug and got back in the car. I didn't look back. I felt good.

Why was it then, that as soon as I pulled away from the curb and breathed a prayer for them, I suddenly burst into tears? I cried hard for about 20 seconds. I imagined them walking into the airport together. I imagined them as blond preschoolers. I prayed some more.

Then I got onto the freeway and headed home. Another step in letting them grow up accomplished for now.

P.S. They called me after the first leg of their trip, when they got to the gate in Las Vegas for their connecting flight to San Diego with 40 minutes to spare. And my friend called me a few hours later to say that her husband and sons had picked up the boys from the airport, and she was busy making them a "Welcome" cake. :-)