I have photos to help remind me of all the sights and sounds of my trip. Heidi, my sister-in-law, took me to see Chicago in New York. The big draw was the holdover performance of Usher. I'd heard about Usher, just enough to differentiate him from the people leading us to our seats. The fact that people screamed when he first appeared on stage, made the show even better, serendipitously.
When the show was over, we had to wait until the crowd left the building before we could find our way to the bathroom. By the time we got out to the street, there were barricades holding throngs of fans back on the sides and across the street. We walked right down the center of attention, like celebrities, minus the recognition and applause.
Horns honking, people talking, short bits of music as we walked by bars and restaurants; all the sounds of Friday night on Broadway. They're all a memory as I sit writing this and the sound of the earliest rising rooster is all I hear.
I had a beautiful trip. So many people opened their homes and took the time to share their lives. I got to see my friend Annie's, childhood home and friends in Morgantown and Pittsburgh; my brother's home and world in Montclair, New Jersey and New York City.
If we have a finite capacity to remember, then replacing scenes every now and then, is good. My luggage was withheld twice on this trip (once due to weather, once due to some baggage handler's slight of hand) but it pales in comparison to the memory of playing Somebody with my nephew Kai, and listening to him sing "Worthless" from the Brave Little Toaster, in it's entirety.
“All journeys have secret destinations of which the traveler is unaware,” quoting Martin Buber once more. A good trip is one that excites and draws you forward and out into the world. It is also timed just right to bring you full circle, in appreciation of home.
I sat next to a little girl on my flight into Kona and she turned to me, more than once, to say, "You must be so happy to live in Hawaii, huh?" I answered, each time, "Yes, I am."
