April 10, 2008

My dearest,

I love airports.

They are the nexus between worlds, the stopovers between here and there. Airports are also a waiting place, for us to renew friendships and family ties. Remember the scenes at the airport that bookend the film Love Actually?

All those screams of laughter and hot tears of joy. All those quiet, nervous seconds before recognition and the heart is filled with relief: she’s arrived, safe and sound, my baby’s alright…

There is so much love here.

And people. So many people. They pour out of the arrival gates like ants, first in a trickle (the scouts out to check if the coast is clear), then rapidly build up into a mad mass of heads and trolleys and giant suitcases (attack! attack!) till it’s difficult to separate them all.

“There! Is that her?” you ask.

“No, her hair is too short. She has long hair.”

“Oh, there’s a whole group of them with long hair now.”

And then, she appears, in a yellow blouse and with a brilliant smile as always. Chatting happily with her friends, she doesn’t notice me till I’m standing right in front of her with a huge wolf-eating grin on my face.

“Welcome home. Surprise!”

Seeing how happy she was was worth the wait. And then, a second surprise as I introduce her to you: my old friend to my new love. This is the first time you’re meeting each other but I know she’d love you. How could she not, my beloved? For I do, and I do so much.

Yours, ever and always.