I’m somewhere above North Carolina right now, flying enroute to Philadelphia from Atlanta. I’ve been staying at the Gwynett Holiday Inn, in the eastern Atlanta suburbs, for two nights. I was back in Georgia so that I could spend yesterday in a day-long meeting at a partner agency down the street from the hotel, in the strip-malls-and-office-parks suburb of Lawrenceville.
Of course, this whole Atlanta trip means that I am not in LA today helping pack & prepare for MR BEN’S EAST COAST TOUR 2009. Paul and I originally planned to fly to Philadelphia on a red-eye tonight: a trip that was booked months ago. We’re spending Easter weekend with his family, and then flying up to Toronto to visit my sister, Ben’s Aunt Monica, and her husband, Uncle Jonathan. But when I found out I was going to be flying into Atlanta on Wednesday, and not flying back until Friday morning, I realized there was no point going all the way back to L.A. I may as well go straight to Philadelphia and await my men there.
So now I’m planning to hide out in a hotel in Philly today – one with wi-fi so I can work – and then I will get a good night’s sleep before heading to PHL again in the morning. This is strangely familiar: a year and a half ago, I flew out to Philadelphia on my own, from Victoria via Seattle, and Paul joined me a couple days later. I spent a couple days relearning American history and then spent a couple more with my husband and his family. This will be the second time I have met my husband in Philadelphia Airport after a few days separation.
(Of course, this trip, we have Mr. Ben with us. Last trip was how we got Mr. Ben.)
I also can’t wait to see my men – especially my tiny one. I miss Ben so much when I am away from him. I find myself looking longingly when I see babies his size, and having to hold back tears when I think too much about mine. I just want to pick him up and kiss his now-chubby little cheeks and hear him chortle. I can’t wait to see his big gappy, toothy grin (now with seven teeth! and more coming in!) and have him look at me and say, “Mama!” Missing Ben is like having part of me missing. These four business trips in the last six weeks have been hard.
Fortunately, it is less than 24h before I see my men. Less than 24h…and then I have eight solid days with my tiny family. I’m so ready for vacation…as soon as I finish this workday.
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