There and Back Again

I arrived to Tulsa on Thursday morning.

Surprisingly, before hand in Chicago I was able to check-in, get through security, and find my gate in well under an hour which is good seeing as how I only arrived at the airport an hour before departure. I can say that there are no attractive people flying at 7AM.

Much to my delight (and surprise) my flight from O’hare left on time. There was an unfortunate mother seated in front of me enjoying some pre-flight entertainment, namely, her daughter’s digested remnants of breakfast. It’s always nice to have a reminder of why I have no desire to have children of my own. The seat next to mine was empty. With my face in my hand I enjoyed falling asleep rather quickly as I listened to some of my favorite music.

I am always so shocked as to how incredibly small the airport at Tulsa is. The last time I arrived to Tulsa I deboarded the plane by the step ladder type things they use only in third world countries. But because of its small size it is always easy to navigate.

“Is that her,” I thought as I walked to the area where people were waiting to greet the arriving passengers.

I looked closer, unsure whether to wave or smile or what. I couldn’t determine if that girl standing over there was my sister or not. It might seem odd to some that someone who I lived with for the majority of my life was almost unrecognizable to me. She looked different. Each feature that had defined her before had changed just ever so slightly so that when combined together they formed someone entirely different…

…or perhaps it was just I who had changed.

It happened again. I was waiting at the carousel awaiting the arrival of my luggage….and waiting…and waiting. Without fail, my bags have managed not to make it on my flight with me. The exact same thing happened last Christmas when I came home. Once my bags finally do arrive to Tulsa they have a special messenger service to deliver them to my house. Seeing as how I live 60 miles from Tulsa, apparently I am not a big priority for American Airlines as I am waiting until 2AM Friday morning to receive my bags. Some things just never change.

My sister has a boyfriend and he accompanied her to go and pick me up. He is nice (and boyishly cute). They spend a lot of time together. She is only 19 and he is only 16 but on more than one occasion I have heard them say I love you to each other. I love you?? When I was only 16 I had no idea what love is. I think this is a perfect example of how easily this phrase is used/overused.

Still, love seems to be all around. My two uncles and their wives are home. Everyone is coupled with someone else. It’s great to be able to spend the holiday with my family but it always feels like something is missing. I don’t have that special person to wake up next to on Christmas morning or to experience all the great things Christmas makes us feel.

I spent the day at my grandma’s house on Friday. My parents were working the entire day so I used it to spend time catching up. My grandma is always such a delight to visit as all grandmas are. I just love looking at all the projects she has done throughout the year. Interior design is definitely her true calling. Stepping inside her home is like stepping back in time; things are a bit simpler. Everything is homemade.

Prior to my arrival I had made plans with my grandma to teach me how to knit. We sat down together and she showed me the basic stitches. We made jokes. We laughed. It was truly a great time. It is memories such as these that I will always cherish. It is difficult to put into words the immense love I have for my family.

As I was leaving that night I looked up. It caught me by surprise. I always somehow forget how beautiful the night sky is here. The skies were clear making it a perfect star gazing night. My breath was visible as I breathed a sigh. Such a beautiful night should not be wasted spent alone I thought. Each star shone so bright and with each twinkle I imagined him next to me, the him I have only dreamed about, the him that would have made this night perfect.

Seeing as how my town has only 6,000 inhabitants, public transportation is nonexistent. I had forgotten how much I enjoy driving a manual transmission. In order to go anywhere it requires driving. In fact, since I have been here I don’t think I have seen anyone walking!

My uncle and aunt and their family and my other uncle and aunt came down late Friday night after I had left. I stopped by and spent the afternoon catching up with them on Saturday. Although bullheaded, my uncle Dave is a very smart, interesting, fun person to talk to. He is very into fitness and health and he was the most “impressed” with finding out that I have become vegetarian as opposed to my other uncle Joe who thinks I have become a hippie! Joe is a fun guy but very narrow minded as was proved when he asked me, “Have you ever seen a healthy looking vegetarian?”

Sunday we all went to church together. I had forgotten just how much I love going to church. I hadn’t been in such a long time. The members from my church are always so nice. They were glad to see me and asked me all the typical questions. “How is Chicago? Are you still there? How’s the weather up there?” I love listening to my mom, a soprano, and sister, an alto, sing. They have such beautiful voices. Hearing my mom sing is so comforting and brings back so many wonderful memories. That is how I imagine an angel would sing.

I got rave reviews about my new hair I was sporting while I was down. I was so surprised at how well everyone liked it (or at least the ones who didn’t like it maintained their silence). One day my aunt told me I look like someone who just stepped out of the magazines. I smiled. Isn’t it wonderful being beautiful?! Then the next day I was sitting on the couch with my sister and the same aunt came over and was talking and she said to my sister, “Doesn’t your brother look like a model?” She is too kind!

As usual my sister awoke extremely early on Christmas day. Christmas is the one day of the year that she can wake up pre-dawn no matter what time she had gone to bed the night before. It is such an odd peculiarity, one most would consider child-like. I was of course the last to awake. I relish the days that I am allowed to sleep-in. I was able to take three days off from work this year and combined with the weekend and Christmas day I was off for a combined six days!

We all gathered around together in the living room and began opening gifts. There were few. I gave one to my mom and one to my sister. Prior to arriving home I had decided to wait to buy something for my dad until I could go somewhere with my mom so she could help me pick something out. My dad is extremely difficult to shop for. Each day rapidly progressed from one the other and before I knew it it was Christmas Eve and I hadn’t bought anything! He had told me not to buy him anything and just the fact that I was home was enough of a gift but I still wanted to at least give him a little something. For all practical reasons I elected to receive money rather than gifts from my parents. My sister still loves receiving gifts.

I had found my mom’s gift at the Pier 1 that was going out of business in boystown. It was such a large gift that I had wondered how I was going to get it home. I finally decided to just put it in a box and check it in with the luggage. My roommate had just received a foot massager and I decided that I could make my mom’s gift fit in the box. I taped it up good and it survived the flight rather well.

I telephoned my roommate Christmas day to wish him well. He asked me about the box that I used. Come to find out, the gift that my roommate had received was meant to be regifted! Now he was stuck with it!

After opening gifts I popped in an Indian movie much to the dismay of the rest of my family. I brought three of them to watch while I was down and only managed to see one. Although my dad won’t admit it, I know he was getting into it as the movie progressed. As usual, I enjoyed every minute of it!

We finally made our way, my mom, dad, and I (my sister had left immediately after opeing gifts) to grandma’s house for Christmas dinner. When I arrived, I opened the gifts from my grandparents and my two uncles. They have absolutely no clue as to what I might enjoy for Christmas but that doesn’t matter really. Whether they gave me anything or not would have no significance to me. I only come home to spend time with them, visit, and relax.

Dinner was fabulous. Everyone always makes something for the dinner. I make asparagus. My mom makes dressing. My aunt makes dinner rolls. My grandma puts everything else together. There seems to always be an enormous amount of food but very little left over. Everything tasted sooo good. I miss home-cooking a lot. But I realized something this time when I was down. Home cooked food is great but it’s the relationships you have with people doing the home-cooking that makes it taste all that much better. It’s the time spent in the kitchen while everyone is busy cooking, laughing, and joking around that makes food home-cooked.

After dinner, with everyone now doubled in size, we took the usual post dinner naps. My granddad was the first to conk out on the recliner. Everyone else then followed as if they had practiced it all year. I guess this is where I get my superior sleeping skills. I can sleep no matter what if I want to and so can pretty much the rest of my family. We all slept for at least a couple hours and then woke up to eat more!

Later that night my friends from high school were having a get together. It had been years since I’d seen some of them. They were still the same. I guess not much changes when you stay in the same the place you have been your entire life. You see the same people everyday who hold the same values and ideas. Very little change is likely to occur. We all played games for a few hours that night and laughed and visited with each other. It was a nice time and it was nice to see them all again.

I couldn’t believe it but the next day is Tuesday. My time with my family has already come and gone. It went by so incredibly fast. This was one of the best Christmas’ I’ve had. I think the more time I spend away from my family the more I cherish each visit home.

After I left my friends, I went back to say my goodbyes to my grandparents, uncles, aunts, and cousins. It was sad having to say goodbye. I hugged my grandma as tears began to fill my eyes. I hate saying goodbye. I didn’t cry because it seems silly. After all, I will see them again.

My mom and sister drove me to the airport on Tuesday afternoon. We said goodbye in the airport and off I was back to my life in Chicago.