I kissed Jon goodbye as he boarded the train for London. Sixteen years ago I’d kissed him goodbye on the same platform. He was taking the train to London then, and from London catching a plane to Phoenix.
“All my worldly goods are in that case,” he had said. Words that brought a lump to my throat.
"I might not see you again for another sixteen years," I said, smiling, concentrating hard on the moment. Trying to dispel flashes of events from those years filling my mind. He was a penniless graduate when he had left for the USA in 1991. Financially he’s in the same situation today. But the roller coaster ride of the last sixteen years meant that a very different Jon looked back as he waved through the window.
Copyright © 2007 Barbara Attwood
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
I just received a letter from one of Shaun's friends inside still, and he rightly described prison as a parallel universe. Reorienting to the real world is huge, and he's already done so much, flying across an ocean, seeing people he's not seen in years, in a new country basically and a new world! I think all will be well. My son has described to us the mere sensation of going out from a cell to a transport vehicle. Being out from razor wire was so fearful and disorienting to him he longed for his cell. It's a far climb back and no one sees that better than you.
I've enjoyed reading you-- you are wonderfully insightful and open-- but this post in particular I found to be very powerful.
The picture you paint of Jon looking back at you and all the emotion packed into letting him go (even for just a short time) when you've just gotten him back, and the juxtaposition of that day years ago... You really are a great writer. We see now where Jon gets his talent!
- Mary in NC
If God had really intended men to fly, he'd make it easier to get to the airport.
Flights to Cape Town
Cheap Flights to Cape Town
Cheap Air Tickets to Cape Town
Post a Comment