About a year ago, I witnessed one of the saddest family scenarios at the airport. A woman in her late 30s was leaving behind a husband and a daughter who was about 3 years old. It was a moving sight to behold. When both father and child eventually failed to contain their tears and just decided to cry openly at the departure area, it was heartbreaking. In fact, I remembered joining in their sorrow as a silent bystander discreetly wiping away my own tears. I did not know the real reason behind the family’s parting nor did I personally know the members yet up to this day, the poignancy of the whole scene still haunts me on occasion.
It feels strange now though that at the very same airport where I have chanced upon an emotional ending, I have also in so many instances eagerly waited for loved ones. They are usually only away for the weekend but the temporary separation still means their absence in my life. Thus every time I see their familiar figures emerging from the plane, I never forget to say a silent prayer of thanks to God for another generous opportunity to savor a happy reunion instead of a heartrending farewell.
Indeed, even if the deafening roars of plane engines obscure the array of emotions being triggered by flight arrivals and departures, the truth about airports for me still stands. Whether it is the smallest airport or the busiest of the international ones, I will not contest a declaration of the place as an estuary of emotions for it certainly is a place where contrasting feelings of delight and distress meet and merge.
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