Departure

Yesterday morning I went with my mom to the airport to send off my grandmother, Abu, who was leaving to go back home to Shanghai. I'd been kind of down about it, and actually getting to the airport was surreal.

Airports are associated with many different things. The airport here, when I enter the Departure zone, always brings some sort of excitement but also dread for the exhausting plane haul ahead. So it was strange to walk through the aisles to the airline where Abu would be taking off.

I also found out something new about airports. They tell you you can't go past the security area if you're not a passenger, and ask that you present a boarding pass before letting you go in. My mom was worried about Abu, who didn't speak English, and asked to go through and into the gates. I thought the answer would be a flat out no, but through a little-known airport protocol we were able to lead Abu straight to her departure gate.

The house is very strange without Abu in it now; even though I was in college for the majority of the time she was here, her presence became a part of the space. I guess that is some sort of semblance to the way the house must have felt after I moved into my dorm and began college, only this time I'm on the side with the empty space.

I'm glad though that she can go back to the more lively city of Shanghai; I think life here was a little too quiet and slow for her. She's still a kicking old lady, and she loves her strolls through the streets and shops.