An airport with a view - just like life

I am sitting in an airport in Chicago for another whirlwind trip. The difference this time is that it has a purpose other than the adventure.  This trip is for driving the Kid back from his sophomore year.

A few weeks ago the Man and I drove down to see the Tall One rock the Aggie Pitch competition, his girlfriend rock both the pitch competition and her ring dunk and learned how to play 42 at The Chicken.  It was an amazing weekend full of tears (shut up, I cry), laughter and family time. I am always proud of the kids - this blew me out of the water.  I only wish I had had the charisma and skill he does at his age - mark my words, there is nothing he won't achieve when he puts his mind to it.

How does this relate to today? People watching and flying of course. As I sit in O'Hare waiting for the Kid, I am watching people.  Everyone on their own path, their own journey. I see happy, sad, excited and beat down.  Two weeks ago, I watched 10 groups of kids present on their next big thing and heard about the Kid and his upcoming season. For each there are not literal crowds and flashing lights like there are tonight, but I see them all in my mind's eye. I just watched a tiny dog walk buy, collar rattling and huge smile which I bet is exactly what my face looked like when I watched the Tall One on stage and how I feel waiting to see the Kid.  The lost flyer, something I also shared on the large A&M campus and when I can't help my grown boys through challenges.  The planes waiting to fly, just like both my kids are on their next adventure - figuratively and literally - and how the Man and I are everyday in work and life.

Take off and landing - ups and downs, it is all apart of the journey and while our little family experiences in different states, we are always together meeting in the crazy terminal of our family.

Sometimes, the journey is worth the 15 minutes

Kids grow up, it is what we want to happen. We want them to grow up, follow their dreams and take over the world.

We have driven to one university to switch our cars and a 15 minute car ride to see our eldest.  We have gone to other states just to maybe see them for 5 minutes at dinner or in between games.  This weekend, we are once again in a different state just to see one of the kids from afar.  I know he is less than a mile away, yet I also know that we will only see him from afar as he does what he does.

See, the point is it doesn't  matter. What matters is that we have a village here with us.  And they have theirs.  We are sharing in a new adventure, while the kids are experiencing theirs. Sometimes, the adventures take place in the same city, how lucky is that, and sometimes,  you get 15 minutes just to say hi.  Sometimes,  they are in different states or countries.  Either way, it's about having the adventure and supporting them in theirs.

It's the journey, not the destination. Sometimes the journey is all about the 15 minutes.

It's between the crest and the crash

I write about songs a lot, about dancing to the music - even if it's just in your head. I write about jumping off that building or sliding down the slope; today I am writing about the silence.

Today, my friends went off to the store in town as I stayed behind to sort things - okay book all the tours - and then went down to the beach.  As I stood in the waves, feet sinking in, water splashing me, I just closed my eyes and took in the silence.  There is a moment between when a wave crests and when it crashes down where the world goes still and it is just quiet. In that moment, the world stands still.  Yesterday,  I moved my feet around so in wouldn't sink in, I kept my eyes open in case a big wave came in with the potential to knock me down; today, I put my arms over my head, closed my eyes and waited to feel the water. Sometimes,  it never reached me and other times it came up to my waist.  I didn't worry about being knocked over.  I didn't worry about getting my hiking clothes (from the mini hike we did before breakfast) wet. I didn't worry about my feet sinking further into the black sand.  I just stood, with my eyes closed and arms overhead taking in my silence.

This week is about time with new and old friends, adventures and exploration of a new land. Friends, adventures, the rain forest and beach are the wave crashes.  Standing the waves, walking on the hike or sitting on the patio,  the wave crests and the silence in between those? It's between the crest and the crash that you find the real joy - in the silence in between you realize how great the crest and the crash really are.

A song to start the trip

I've seen trees of green,
Raccoons too,
I've seen the crabs, heading towards me and you...
And I sing to myself,
What a wonderful world.

Keep your eyes open for the dance...

Tonight I sit high above runways watching a dance as I haven't seen it before.  Have I watched planes land and takeoff before? Yes, many times from many different airport lounges in many different countries but I have never just sat, with no where to go, watching them.

If you haven't seen it, it is like the most complicated of choreographed dances yet appears blissfully simple.  As a SW plane lands, a United plane takes off.  As a jumbo KLA jet takes off, a small regional jet lands.  Simple beauty surrounded by the noise of one the world's busiest airports.

My current situation is similar, I am watching the runways of LAX sitting on the 18th floor of a Marriott (a hotel that always feels a bit like home) surrounded by people laughing and talking, almost too loud atmosphere music and yet I sense a choreographed dance, people come and go - planes take off and land.

This week, my family started a new adventure and tomorrow I go on another personal one.  I am off to give the brain and soul a break and become one with nature...okay, I am going to see monkeys but animals reset me. As does flying around hanging by a string.   I am lucky as my family supports my need for downtime and while I am sure they find it silly, they say go and have fun. However, at this moment, I can't help but think how great it is to see the dance of LAX and work through in my head how I can get my boys here some day to see the dance too.

Moral? Keep your eyes open for the dance, it might not jump out at you but trust me - it's there.

Dance in the rain or Dance in the sunshine - just Embrace the day!

A friend posted about embracing today and your loved ones as you never know what tomorrow brings. I will not directly steal her post but I will second the notion - everyday is a new day and a chance to have amazing adventures! Some are great, some try you to the core. Hold onto the love, the new opportunities, each other and remember; no one puts 'They were a great employee' on their tombstone.
I have a lot of fun in life, a lot of which I share with you - Facebook It - but not everyday is full of fun. Most days are windowless rooms named for cities where I would rather be, marathon conference calls that make you yearn for a training run in 100 degree heat or loud music drowning out the yelling I am doing at yet another repeat email. However, those fun times with my family, with friends, small town life, or just dancing in the rain alone are the ones that need to be embraced. Gray skies - metaphorical and actual - clear up, and the next adventure awaits.
Embrace today - Embrace your loved ones - Embrace the chance to dance in the rain or dance in the sun. In other words - Embrace Life and every moment that it brings!

Rain or shine - dance and embrace the moment!

The sparkle was there and the fox was too...

What did the adventures of the weekend bring? It is hard to even know where to start. It was a weekend of family, fun, memories, laughter and tears. It was watching the seasons change and corn grow. There was a fox, a song, and a glimmer in more than one young girl's eyes. There was dancing - oh my goodness, was there dancing. And did I mention our ever growing family?

Over the years, as our family grew, we also grew literally apart. There are different cities and different states (there were different countries but not for now). My cousins, some of whom I still see as little kids, are grown and getting married, they have children of their own now. Never mind the fact that I have two boys in college. My cousins have grown into amazing men and women, even if we still are all kids inside - we come by it honestly, our parents are still kids too.

This weekend I was back in Bel Air, a small city that I called home for many years even if we didn't live there. Today, I walked down the John Carroll path next to what will always be my Grandma and Grandpa's house in my mind. It will always have green shag carpet in the family room and pink tile upstairs. Yup, it is why I want a shag carpet in my office. Bill was with me as we walked down the path, as I looked into the now fenced backyard and the memories came flooding back; I swear I heard my Uncle Gary telling me that I was going to be in trouble for planting a tree in Grandpa's garden. I saw Grandma at the table cleaning oranges, putting away what seemed like 100 dozen Christmas cookies and 365 chicken breasts. I heard Grandpa calling me from his big chair because Fraggle Rock was on HBO. I saw my Mom walking downstairs in rollers and Little Joy coming up the path in her uniform. I heard Uncle Tim & Uncle Scott on the front porch drinking beer and Alex curled up sleeping on the carpet as the family all walked around him. As we crossed into the JC property, I saw Brian teaching Alex to skate on the pond - a pond that now has a No Skating (or doing anything else) sign. I saw my daddy and brother running around. I told Bill about the cat tails that we used to pick and blow apart, and the nuns that would be walking around campus. I looked back at 508 and I shed a tear or two because of the fond memories, I laughed while they flowed remembering the amazing times that I hadn't thought about in so many years.

The walk down memory lane wasn't what the weekend was about though, the weekend was about my cousin Brian - who is still a kid in my mind - marrying the beautiful Jessica. The family came together at St. Mary's to celebrate their marriage before God, and then to party with them. I got to meet, and spend time with my cousin's kiddos - 4 daughters and 1 son between 2 of them! They - the little girls of course - played with my purse, as I am sure I did with my aunts' purses years ago. I introduced one of them to glitter lip gloss - I am sure her mom will thank me later - okay, maybe not thank but I am the oldest so I get to have some fun. They all learned that when Great Aunt Maria and Erin ask them to dance, the only answer is yes. The girl's eyes sparkled so much as they twirled around the dance floor I could see my Grandmother in them laughing. I taught one of them a line dance, I cannot wait to teach them all so many more. The lone boy talked basketball as I tried to convince him to go see Alex at Dayton; poor kid, only boy in a girl dominated family right now - he gets a medal for the weekend. Mom lifted the girls up on an old tractor and it became a chariot, Daddy took them to meet the horses and they became their friends. The cousins, myself included, all laughed as we remembered how my Mom, their Aunt Maria, used to do the same with us. Jessica, my newest cousin, looked like a princess and took our breath away as she twirled around the dance floor, and when her dad sang to her? Forget it, not a dry eye in the room. We knew Brian found his match, he lit up as she entered his sight - she is now our cousin and will never get away without sparkling and dancing. And while most of us had not seen each other in far too long, it was like we had never left. I even got my cousin Joey to dance - maybe I do have a lot of Mom in me. Oh, and the fox. As we walked down the hill to the barn I saw a red fox run across the field and knew that Big Joy was standing next to Grandma in heaven smiling down at all of us so proud that we were together as a family once again. No doubt Unkie and Grandpa were there looking down saying 'Those damned kids' and smiling too.

The rest of the weekend was spending time with family, in small groups over crab and large ones at the pub with crab. The cousins listened to old stories and we talked about getting together to make new ones. Lots of drinks were drank and plans were made then changed so we could all have one last breakfast together before heading our separate ways. Did I mention eating crab? Crab dip, crab cakes, crab pretzels and let's not forget Bill's first steamed crab experience. I may have gotten enough to last me a month, okay a week. Okay, a few days. I better get more Old Bay.

I hadn't blogged in a while, no reason why as life brings new reasons to everyday, I just hadn't. After this family weekend I was ready to write again. The love, new and old, the family, new and old (no I am not calling you old Mom), reminded me how very lucky I am to be a Reilly. How very lucky I am that I have a family that picks up where it left off, no matter how long it has been. How very lucky I am to have words to capture all the joy that started many years ago at a house we called home on Linwood Avenue.

Oh and I did I mention we all got to celebrate Mom's birthday together? No? Well that's because I forgot that too. Daughter of the year award, but I think she might forgive me as I willingly let her hold the newest cousin. Okay, maybe I tried to run away with the angel in my arms and Mom caught me but it's my story so whatever.

Here's to the Reilly family - whether by blood or by love, whether your name is Reilly or not - once you join our clan, there is no getting out and we are so glad you are here. Now, go fish in the pond and dance to the music because no sign, or lack of power, is going to stop us.