Surprise!

My flight home was booked for May 5th, but a few weeks ago when I got an email from my brother with pictures of my niece and nephew and my heart just hurt, and then when I thought about having three weeks of travel in Costa Rica and I started to cry, I thought to myself, Why can't I just go home earlier? And then I thought, Why CAN'T I go home earlier?? There was no reason I needed to stay in Costa Rica, and clearly the joy of travel had dissipated, so what I really needed to do was just go home. Once I made that decision (especially after I realized that the cost of changing my ticket would be less than the cost of a week of hostels and food), I suddenly was happy and whistling and humming (something other than Homeward Bound).

So I changed my ticket, but told almost no one. The last few days in Costa Rica I kept saying to myself, "48 hours from RIGHT NOW, I'll be on a plane.... I'll be on the Metrolink... I'll be in MY bed." The last days on the road were just treading water until I could come home. On Wednesday evening I arrived in St. Louis, caught the Metrolink, and walked with a very light step (and a pretty light backpack) down the road to my house. My father was in NYC, so I knew not to expect his car, but mom's car wasn't there either. Oh well. The door, however, was unlocked, so in I went. I greeted my dogs (who seemed to know me a little, or just appreciated the fact that I was someone to pet them), greeted the stranger who was sitting in the kitchen (not a surprise at all to have a stranger in the kitchen... although I eventually figured out that she was a classmate of my mother's who was in town for their 50th reunion), and then got about the business of doing laundry.

When I heard mom's car pulling in, and I went and sat on the doorstep and awaited her. She came around the corner of the porch, looked at me blankly for a moment, said, "Oh my god!" and then was rendered speechless for a few minutes (that never happens!). I did much the same thing the next day at school. My teammates (still present tense, so far as I'm concerned) were on a field trip of course, so I had to wait around until they came back. In the mean time I wandered through the halls, chatting with teachers and kids, generally wreaking havoc around the school. I pretty much was a rock star, with kids (and some adults) screaming my name and running to give me hugs. It does a lot of good for one's ego! (Although there were some older kids who asked if I had been gone three years. Either they missed me THAT much or else they don't really have a good sense of time.)

When my teammates reappeared I just stood in the hall as the first grade filed past me. When they saw me, they too looked blankly at me while they processed that I was there but shouldn't be, then squealed and gave me hugs. They said that they were going to surprise ME by picking me up at the airport next week. Oh well, sorry to wreck your surprise, but now we have a few more days to hang out!

After school I loitered in the hallways and got to see lots of my favorite parents. LOTS of hugs, lots of smiles, and lots of good feelings all around.

On Friday I flew to NYC (my morning flight was cancelled and afternoon flight was delayed two hours, but I ran into another parent friend at the airport, so it was worth it) with my mom to come to a birthday party here. We hadn't told my father (who was already in NY) that I was coming, so when he opened the door of the apartment of Tommy the Wig (the only person I HAD told I'd be coming home, as I needed to ask to stay at his apartment as well) and expected to see mom, he got me. Another blank stare, then hugs and tears.

Oh, there is no place like home. It is soooo good to be back, and not just because I actually can flush the toilet paper here. It is normal, it is right. Everything is as it should be. I even got to polish some silver this morning. Life is good....