Leaving for Denmark

July 30, 2009

My family decided to have a going away party for me, so I invited a ton of my friends to come over to say good-bye. It was great. I was so happy to see everyone. My bags were already checked in, all I had to do was go back to the airport to get on the airplane.

The party was dying down and the time to get on the airplane was getting closer and closer. Some of my dad's friends showed up late, so we brought food back out and the adults began to chit chat. I needed to get to the airport at least 30 minutes before my flight to get ready for boarding so I left with my Godmother, my parents promising to be right behind us.

We get to the airport, meet with my Rotary Counselors, and wait for my parents. Minutes pass, and soon enough they're calling for early boarding. My parents haven't walked through the doors yet. I wait for the last minute to board. The final boarding call comes through the intercom. I ask the flight attendant to hold off the plane. "I'm waiting for my parents. I haven't said good-bye to them yet, please, let me wait a couple of minutes," I beg.

After another five minutes my parents have yet to walk through the doors. "Sweetie, you have to go on now," the attendant tells me.

"No, please, just a couple more minutes they said they'd be right here. I'm leaving for a year, I have to say good-bye," I explain. Tears are beginning to well in my eyes.

She leaves and talks over the radio system to let the attendants on the plane know that they were still waiting for one passenger. Five more minutes pass and the attendant comes back and lets me know they can't hold the flight any longer. I have to get on the plane.

I begin to follow her towards the door when I see my mom walking through the door. I drop all my things and run to her, the tears flowing down my face. "I thought I wouldn't be able to say good-bye," I told her.

"It's okay," she says, "I'm here. You're going to be okay. I love you. We're going to miss you."

I ask her where my dad is. She says he's parking the car. He'll be right in.

As she's finishing her sentence, my dad walks through the doors. I run to him for a big hug. "I love you, Daddy! I'm going to miss you so much. Tell Anthony (my little brother) I love him and I'm going to miss him," I whisper to him.

"We'll miss you, too. Have fun. We love you," he whispers through my hair.

The flight attendant comes and tells me it's time. I hug both my parents one more time and walk towards the plane. Walking towards the plane, I look back towards the window and wave to my parents. I knew, at that moment, their love and support would be the backbone of my year abroad. They would help me get through all the upcoming challenges, no matter what.

This was the first time I truly knew that my parents were my number one supporters, the two most important people in my life.