That’s What Friends are for – Part I

The year was 2005.  This was a big year in our family. I had two children graduating – one from college and one from high school. The culmination of years of stress, joys, tears, uncertainty were finally coming to an end. My oldest, Yamil, was due to graduate from Tuskegee University in Alabama, and my youngest, Nayda, was scheduled to graduate from Eleanor Roosevelt High School here in Maryland. I had already survived a number of proms in the family, Yamil and Maya both went to their junior and senior proms at Lanham Christian school.  Now it was Nayda’s turn. What made this one so complicated is that Nayda was a runner. The regional championships for outdoor track and field always occur in May. As fate would have it, Nayda’s prom was right in the midst of Regionals. It turned out she would have to run on that Thursday (Friday was prom) and on Saturday. That was problem #1. High School prom is a big deal here in Maryland as I would suspect it is in lots of states. The girls spend days/months, prepping for this “special night”. The days leading up to the big event are filled with the hustle and bustle of last minute preparations – hair, nails, accessories, etc. Well that May in 2005, the day before prom, which was the first day of Regionals, it was POURING!!!!!!  I’m not talking about a little rain, it was downpour after downpour.  For these big meets they try to have them regardless of the weather as long as it’s not thundering and lightening they will still go forward with the meet. The officials postponed the meet for a short period thinking that as the day proceeded things would clear up some – but to no avail. The rain was relentless definitely putting a damper on things. We had made an appointment at the hairdresser for late afternoon. Although we were a little late for the appointment we managed to make it. Then the challenge was to keep the hair nice (despite all the rain) for the next day.  The day of the prom was filled with lots of little last minute things. As if that weren’t enough, there was problem #2. My middle child, Maya (who had been away in Spain participating in a “study abroad” program) was scheduled to return the same night of Nayda’s prom. She was due to arrive at New York’s Kennedy airport around 6:30pm. Some 5 months earlier, on a bitter cold January night, the four of us had driven to New York to take her to meet up with another school mate who also was studying abroad. You would think that I would have gleamed some comfort that she would have someone with her but regardless of that, I was pretty nervous about the whole ordeal. She would be in a foreign country – someplace I would not be able to get to right away if need be. Not only that, I don’t speak the language except maybe to tell someone to “leave me alone” (Dejame)  or to ask “where’s the bathroom?” (Donde esta elbano?) or “I have a headache” (Tengo un dolor de cabeza), none of which would help me if I were trying to find my child. I tried to find a way to get to Seville for her 21st birthday which occurred earlier that year on March 1. I was not able to pull it off. This was the longest time I had been away from any of the children and so I was eagerly anticipating the day she would return only to have my attention divided. There was absolutely no way that I could be at JFK airport at 6:30 in the evening and also be here in Maryland to see Nayda off for prom. After lamenting on the phone with my girlfriend in New York, it was decided that she would meet Maya and then ride the bus from New York to Maryland with her, and I would stay in Maryland and deal with all the prom stuff. Well 6:30 came and went and no Maya. I was on the phone with my girlfriend who was at the airport waiting and there was no information about the whereabout of the flight. With each minute I was becoming more and more anxious. I managed to get Nayda off to prom (although she was extremely late). Yamil was going to be the driver for the night so I knew I wouldn’t have to worry about her. Meanwhile back at the airport there was no sign of Maya’s flight. My girlfriend began pacing back and forth and finally saw another family there seemingly as anxious as she herself was. She called me to ask what Marina’s family looked like. Honestly all I could remember about them was that they are Russian. Other than that, I was unable to give an adequate description. Finally, she decided that she would just approach them and find out if they too were waiting for he same flight and find out if they were waiting for Marina. As it turned out, it was Marina’s family. They were apprehensive about approaching my girlfriend because they had met me once before and they didn’t think she was me. When my girlfriend explained that I was back in Maryland and that she was there waiting for Maya they greeted her warmly as if we were all old long lost friends……Side note:  It’s truly amazing how during times of consternation and/or crises, how connected you can become to total strangers. That should tell us something as a people – we all have the same struggles and fears. Fear in this case was definitely the equalizer!!!!! Somehow having someone else there waiting took some of the pressure off (we really are so much better together than separate). By the time they saw Maya and Marina it was like old home week – hugs and kisses and smiles all-around!!! Me on the other end of the phone crying happy tears – my Maya was almost home!!!!!! At least she was back in the United States – phew! Now for the 5-hour trek from NY to Md. Even though my girlfriend didn’t have a car, she was willing to ride the bus from NY to MD to bring my child home safely.  It’s because of times like that and so many more special times down through the years, that make my heart smile. I guess that’s what friends are for.