ice cream cone life

I said a final tearful goodbye to friends I might never see again, or at the very least will not see for a long time.  We shared a last supper and talked about memories and good times and who know's what is to come in the future.  As I cycled through the night to my taxi rendezvous point I let the sadness well up inside of me and overflow.  The warm humid evening mixed well with my tears.  I was not and am not sad because I don't want to leave.  I know that it is time to move on and I look forward to beginning a new journey.  But there is something incredibly emotional about realizing that a chapter of your life has ended.  That as much as you will remember that time in your life, it will henceforward dwell in the past.  And things will be forgotten.  Relationships will become more distant and that something that was your everything will be not.

But when the times of change come rolling in we can choose to remain in place and be pummeled by the waves or we can float along with them.  Have a good cry and then move forward.

And there is nothing like German competency and a comfortable ride in Lufthansa business class to take the sting off of a goodbye.  In all these years of midnight travels in and out of Saudi land, it is my final flight in which I win the lucky free upgrade.  The gods must be smiling upon me.  Now, well rested and refreshed I write to you in transit from Frankfurt.  I know this airport like the back of my hand after all the years of coming and going but now that I move back to the western side of the world it might be a long time before I return.  So, in contrast to the usual, I will enjoy my layover.  See you on the other side.