Hope

I drove my (step) brother Matt to the airport today. He's flying to Thailand to meet our dad (his step-dad) and they're going on a 3 week tour of Thailand and Burma (Myanmar) where Matt's father was from. I am so excited for him! This might just be the adventure of a lifetime for him.

Our drive to Denver was fun - good music, good conversation, the usual with Matt. We talked about airports, the processes he would have to go through, how it all works, his layover, checking his bags, etc.

Matt is "beyond independent." He's a 20 year old man who wants to discover the world for himself, and is working to discover who he is in the process. He didn't want me to go in with him - that independence. He would do this journey start to finish on his own if he could. So I dropped him off at the curb, put his suitcase on his lap, then got back in the car. He wheeled himself in through the doors so quickly I didn't even see him go...and I had a moment of panic. What if his suitcase fell off his lap? What if he couldn't find the ticket counter? What if there was a complication?

I got in the car and began my drive home, tears in my eyes, feeling what I know must be just a tiny touch of what his mother must feel. All I can say is, "Wow."

I have such high hopes for Matt's trip...and such worries.

I hope he has a good understanding of the lack of wheelchair accessible stuff in Asia and that he's not terribly disappointed by what he's just not able to do and see.

I hope he's patient and kind to my dad who is struggling with some physical issues.

I hope he finds reflections of his father in all that he sees.

I hope he feels close and in community with our dad.

I hope he makes all his flights and has no unnecessary complications.

I hope he's safe.

I hope he finds wonder and magic and beauty and himself.

And I hope he comes back to us the same old Matt, but new and filled with all he saw, tasted, smelled, experienced, enjoyed, struggled with, found, learned and loved.

I hope...