Today Mom and Dad left Seattle, which was a true bummer. I picked them up at Kevin’s place and we had a quick breakfast at Phinney Market, and then stopped by my place before making the drive down to the airport.
I was legitimately sad to see them go. At first I had been a little daunted by the length of their trip–9 days is a long time, but as we drove south past the stadiums I couldn’t think of a trip where we’d had more fun together. Sure we’d all had moment of being tired and worn out–I was pretty beat myself, so I can’t imagine how they handled it–but there was never a point I hadn’t enjoyed having them here. Part of the appeal, I think, was my ability to show them all of the wonderful things here that cause me to continually make the painful decision to live on a coast so far away from my family. And after four long years, I was finally able to show my Mom and Dad the sunset over the Olympics from a Seattle ferry, the thrill of Sounders game, or the fun of Woodland Park Zoo. They’d met my friends, seen my home, and experienced my city, and we’d had a lot of fun experiencing all of that together. When I dropped them off at their gate and waited at the security checkpoint I kept looking forward to the next time we’d be making a trip together, and hoping that it was soon. It’s easy to get wrapped up in your own life and its moments and forget that time is passing on the other coast too; I’d never forgotten how important my family was to me, but sometimes it feels like the reminders have gotten a little too spaced out.
I waved goodbye as my parents rounded the corner past security and out of site, made my way back to the car and started to drive home. As the city came into view I noticed the clouds closing in overhead; Seattle, it seemed, was about to pay up on some of its precipitation debt. It hadn’t rained in the 9 days my parents had been here. Once again, their timing had been perfect.