Homecoming

When mom embarked on her Williams Energy flight back in May, she vowed she would return with Craig. Wednesday, that dream came true but for an entirely different reason and under vastly different circumstances than mom had intended. In an arrival that surely would have made mom cry and only one short week after her passing, Craig and Emily touched down on the sleepy Stillwater Airport runway in their own Williams Energy flight.

Diane, Jill and I arrived well in advance as if it were Chicago O' Hare and we'd have to wade through traffic. Not so much. We sat on a wooden bench just beside the open runway and waited, squinting at the sky for any hint of movement or glimmer from the summer sun. Fortunately, a forceful breeze cut the sting of the 90+ degree Oklahoma weather. We waited until we saw something and (as busy body sisters do) started filming. The plane crept closer and closer, still hovering too high above the horizon to know if it was them. Until....

A friggin "experimental looking plane" approached the runway, touched down briefly, and took off again. Oh, for crying out loud...

Camera off....we waited

Another glimmering hint of sunlight on metal appeared in the cloudless sky. No wammies, no wammies. Imposter! It was a twin engine Cessna instead. Several more twin engines would land in the 15 minutes we waited; we'd come to recognize their beetle like frame and their tendency to tip with the wind before setting high hopes. The passing time brought with it irreverent/sarcastic senses of humor a la 3 sleep deprived sisters until, high in the sky, a jet approached.

Soon, Craig and Emily were taxiing in the same jet as mom and dad took and the setup as they disembarked couldn't have been more similar. It felt like déjà vu as I filmed, waiting for the first passenger to enter the doorway. As I stood, I could see mom there -- white sweater, waiting with arms criss-crossed about her chest. What I'd give to go back to that moment. And, like that moment, a heavy wind cut all sound. But, this time Craigie appeared and disembarked first -- with a pep in his step long since forgotten over these last few (and hard) months. Whether it was returning home, or being pampered in a swanky flight, or being with family during the most difficult time of our young lives, he seemed more lighthearted and alive--certainly since late February. This was his first trip since being diagnosed---for the second time. For circumstances that were guarded at best and certainly dicey in terms of sending his health south, he seems to have given the Lawler "what, what" and stuck it to cancer -- at least for the moment. Sure he's vomited the last two nights; sure he sleeps from fatigue; sure we have no false pretenses that he's on the up and up...BUT, he's more awake and, more importantly, in those hours--he seems more alive. Wipe the brow, what a relief.

I hand it to Craig, and to mom -- two of the strongest people I've ever known. Such a shame mom couldn't be there on the tarmac to embrace him for his homecoming -- I'd like to think she was there with the wind.

~E