Departures

I was at the airport this morning to bid goodbye and good luck to many friends from school who were about to depart not only to a foreign ground but also on a learning journey without the comforts of home and with few friends.

It was quite an emotional experience for most of them, for me it was a slight reminder of July 8, when someone dear to me departed in more ways than one.

You may have heard of this before but someone I know told me 'the airport is an amazing place with a life of its own'. It operates 24/7 round-the-clock and there's no such thing as a break at the airport or else the entire day's flight schedule gets affected.

Something else that really amazes me is that the airport also has a yin and yang, the departure level for many spells hope, dreams, a wonderful vacation, a good break, for whatever reason, but for the people they leave behind for a long period of time, just for a moment it feels like the end.

Separated by just a concrete floor, the arrival level to many also spells hope and home. People return to be greeted with warm hugs and words of love. For the people who come to receive them, it's almost as if a part of them has been returned to them to complete that missing piece.

My friends were only departing for a period of five months to intern at various hotels in China, 20 weeks as our academic structure states, 140 days, but I'm sure it felt more like 140 years for those who were leaving and for those who sent them off.

Amazing how humans learn to cherish what they hold dear when it's taken from them. I speak from personal experience and I'm sure everyone has had their moments like this. But as the days go by, people temporarily forget that loss, maybe by choice, or subconsciously overwritten by the woes and worries of daily life.

I look at departures now with a new perspective, it spells the beginning, not the end, it is a test to see if relationships stand the test of time, a time for people to learn to cherish their loved ones, an additional call for action to express love and gratitude to those whom you love.

And fret not, there is always a floor below that before long, your loved ones will return to.