Happy Valentine's Day

My #1 Valentine is on a plane as of 8 a.m. this morning. I bought him (actually Tommy got it for me for Dad in the city) a copy of The Economist for the plane ride. i drove him to the airport at 6 a.m. and I'm now home ... over 2 hrs roundtrip to the airport and back. I went in to the airport to navigate the place with him. What a stressful place! omigosh. Let's draw a parallel: going to the airport and getting on a jet plane is somewhat like getting ready to depart this world and move into the next. It is VERY stressful and a huge undertaking. You have to say goodbye to all the people at home and make sure they are a-okay. You have to get all of your things "in order"... do you have a will? Did you turn off the iron? the tea kettle? Do you have clean underwear? a decent haircut? Then, you have to make your way to the airport... make sure you have gas in the car, or arrange for an airport shuttle. Then, you gotta find parking or just get dropped off.. how far is your family or escort going to accompany you on your journey? Then you shuffle through the airport with all of your earthly belongings that will get through security and weigh under 50 lbs.. not too much baggage can go with you! and if you try to take more, you will PAY for it! Then, there's more saying goodbye.. part of you wants to just get on with it, no more goodbyes, and part of you wants to never leave maybe. Sometimes, IT's hard on the people left behind. Sometimes, they are just ready for you to GO. Let's not prolong this agony, okay? Anyway, now I wait for Pete to call and say he's landed and that he's on his way to his next temporary home, the hotel. Man, I am tired and I didn't really go anywhere, except with Pete for liftoff. Bon voyage, mon amie!