Still puffy eyed after Jamie’s long, warm and also tearful hug outside of Baltimore-Washington International Airport, armed with a newly acquired AC resistant hoodie and a bag full of snacks, I am about to catch a flight back to reality, with a brain bursting with half-processed new experiences and memories.
It’s been a week, but it definitely feels more like a whole month.
After a hilarious welcome WhatsApp combo and an awkward exchange with a very flirtatious customs official, Jamie and Elle kidnapped me at this same airport late at night what feels like an eternity and a half ago. I had one job: to fall asleep and “recover from the surely exhausting long journey” to the carefully curated soothing playlist they had prepared. But I failed miserably. How couldn’t I? After seven months, there were just too many things to catch up on. There was a delicious peanut butter-jelly sandwich and pasta salad, the American highway, all the diners, all the boats, the full moon, the amusement parks... They would have had to use elephant tranquilizer to put me down.
Upon arrival, we were warmly welcomed by Jamie’s wonderful mom. I vaguely remember seeing the biggest hotdog tomatoes of my life resting on the kitchen counter, then found myself in the largest, most tastefully decorated, private bedroom I’d ever been in. Just after saying goodbye to Jamie and before hitting the AMAZING mattress, I heard Kay’s soft steps approaching from the other end of the hallway. Her beaming smile and cute Bambi pajamas put the perfect ending to a beautiful beginning.
I still remember what it felt like to wake up to those views. Soft, warm morning light, gorgeous water front with private dock and two shining boats. A background of lush nature, clear skies. My jaw dropped so low I had to drag it around on the floor during the first waking hour. How was this even real? How did I end up there? Paradoxically, it was like waking up to a dream. And a dream is exactly what the rest of the week felt like.
So many things happened I could not put my hand on fire to swear on the order of things. I just know that even in those moments we did absolutely nothing, our days were full: full of sunshine and humid summer air, full of laughter, full of delicious food, full of heartfelt of just fun conversation, full of togetherness, harmony, love, family and friendship.
The first half of our first whole day together we hung out by the pool. At the barbecue hosted by her parents that afternoon, we met Jamie’s neigbours and family, including her grandma: an accomplished, very elegant woman with a fascinating aura, stunning artistic talent, and a surprisingly youthful and cheeky sense of humor, whose life work decorated most common areas of the family’s homes we had the pleasure of visiting. It was fun but also intimidating to meet so many people at the same time, and I didn’t think the day could get any more intense than that, but then the most magical thing happened: hundreds of flickering fireflies appeared at dusk, making everything look like a reflection of the beautiful night sky above just inches over the ground. It filled my heart with joy and awe in a similar way the Northern Lights did last October (minus the tears). I remembered Owl City’s “Fireflies”:
If ten million fireflies
Lit up the world as I fell asleep
'Cause they fill the open air
And leave teardrops everywhere
You'd think me rude but I would just stand and stare
I'd like to make myself believe that planet Earth turns slowly
It's hard to say that I'd rather stay awake when I'm asleep
'Cause everything is never as it seems
Eating crab is not something I ever thought I’d do, not to mention opening it myself with my bare hands and using the primitive force of a crab mallet (and my teeth, but based on everyone’s reaction, this seems to be something NOT to be proud of). Even the whole experience around it was priceless, hanging out at Doc’s Sunset Grille while listening to live music and watching a live hotdog eating contest, plus enjoying a beautiful rainbow sitting on the grass by the creek wearing our Powerpuff Girls style matching Oxford t-shirts.
Driving to Potomac to drop off Kay at the airport on Friday was bittersweet. We enjoyed the long car drive, the talking, the singing, the laughing… but we’d miss her wisdom, relentless energy and sense of humor on our last day.
We had dinner in Washington DC that evening, rejoining Nicole and meeting one of her friends, and having the pleasure of seeing Megan again after our Amsterdam trip early this year. Crazy to think this actually happened, that I got to see her so soon again. “Is this a special event?” is what our waitress asked while pointing my camera at us. I told her we were celebrating Friendship Day. And so it seemed: an impossible astronomical alignment that brought Jamie, our common Greece friends, her family and my friend together around that table.
But not everything was rainbows and butterflies (in this case meant quite literally). Just like some of the lessons learned and solidified.
The turmoil unfolding in my heart, the sadness entering it since I decided to crack it open. I cannot think about it without tears filling my eyes, and so their shed amount on account of these feelings in the past would have been enough to refill Peachblossom Creek in its entirety at the other side of my morning window. Just like a fruit with a compromised spot, I cut out the part of my heart that was hurting to prevent it from spoiling the rest. And then chopped it into tiny pieces and scattered them in the bay.
There is a hole again. But, according to Rumi, “the wound is the place where the light enters you.” Even though it doesn’t feel like it now, I can only hope the light of everything beautiful that always happens is bright and warm enough to make the missing parts grow back.
I’m midflight now, daydreaming about our next reunion in Madeira, and looking forward to the bright things that’ll hopefully come our way until then.
