I love getting good news. It is the best feeling in the world. Good news came to us on the morning of our departure in an email Qatar Airlines sent shortly after midnight. Blue was granted permission to fly with us to India. Whew. Now, in my mind there was no other outcome for this situation since we’d crossed all our t’s and dotted all our i’s, but the email made it official. Done. Ravi and I did multiple sweeps through the house to make sure we weren’t leaving something important behind. I mean, we were leaving something significant behind, but nothing tangible that needed packing.
With iron knots in our stomachs and lumps in our throats, we all said our silent goodbyes to a place that we loved and people we cared about. Ravi’s mom Shelley was the matriarchal chauffeur of our large, rented van, and we drove mostly in silence to the Seattle Airport. The 4-hour commute was peaceful and pleasant. We drove by dozens of vineyards and orchards until the arid rolling hills of southeastern Washington slowly morphed into the lush and craggled mountains of the Pacific northwest.
Shelley gave us all a beautiful goodbye, and we headed into the airport doors like superheroes walking into a shrinking vortex. Although we knew what was on the other side we certainly didn’t know what it held for us.
People parted the walkways in front of us like Moses parted the Red Sea. We were a circus act making our way to the ticket counter. A large, metal dolly held 7 suitcases and a huge dog kennel, while 6 human Kumars with backpacks stuffed like Christmas stockings threatened to take out anyone within a 3-foot radius. Add Blue to the mix, and we had “TRAINWRECK” written all over us.
After more than 2 hours at the ticket counter we were once again wondering if Blue would be flying with us or if we’d be trapped in the airport for years like Tom Hanks’s character in Terminal. Would we eventually be given political asylum? Would they finally just let us fly out of time and sheer pity? Would we ha..? My thoughts were interrupted by the clerk at the counter handing us our boarding passes and pet travel instructions. Great, we were all allowed to go. I took a proof-of-life picture of Blue before we parted ways. He was alive and well in Seattle but this was a 28-hour trip, and we would not see him during the short layover in Doha. We’d have to wait until we landed in Chennai before we were reassured he was okay.
Oftentimes, making big changes forces you to put your trust in people, systems, and the unknown. We trusted the airlines and their employees that Blue would arrive with us in Chennai safely. We trusted that moving to India was best for our family, although it was painful. Furthermore, we trusted the flight attendant that butter chicken and naan was the superior in-flight meal selection over vegetable biryani. Every decision we make comes with a bit of trust, even it is just trust in ourselves.
We settled in to our seats like eggs in a carton, plugged in our headphones, and finally exhaled. Ravi and I looked at each other the way I’d imagine Olympians do after their event. Exhausted, excited, proud. I’m sure we could read each other’s minds. “Did we just do that? Did we really just do all of that? Are we really doing this?” We would be in another time zone, on another continent, and in what would feel like another world when we reached our final destination. We were ready.
Chosun, your expressions in the photos are so emotive. You have a smile on your face alongside a furrowed brow! What does that mean?!