"The road to hell is paved with adverbs." - Stephen King

(this is a kite)

As you can tell, my dad came up with his password. So I have wi-fi. But this will be a short post. We were up EARLY this morning to get to the airport by 5:30 for my 7 a.m. flight, so I'm whooped.

Arrived here in Seattle a little before 9 a.m. (one hour time difference) and got out to the folks' by 10:30. Since arriving we have eaten too much food, talked, eaten more food, talked more and then eaten yet again. Shortly after getting here we had Swedish Rice (mmmmm!) and home made frosted cinnamon rolls (plural). They eat their big meal at noon, which in this case was closer to 2 p.m. and consisted of ham, potatoes, broccoli, creamed peas and a jello & fruit salad. Dessert was home made Cascade berry pie with real whipped cream. For supper it was ground ham sandwiches with home made brownies for dessert.
I have consumed more calories in the last 10 hours than I normally get in two days. It's pouring down rain here (it is Seattle, after all) but if I don't go for a run in the morning I'll be Jaba the Hut by Sunday afternoon.

The plane was only about 2/3 full so the middle seat was empty. I sat on the aisle and to my left, by the window, was a 10-year old girl. She was already in her seat by the time I got to mine and I noticed right away that she had her blue jacket on with the hood pulled up so it covered her face. But I could also tell she was quietly sobbing. After a couple of minutes I tapped her on the shoulder and asked, "Are you sad?"
She answered quietly, "Yes."
"Who are you leaving?" I asked.
"My dad."
I told her I was sorry, and then let her be for awhile. About a half hour later she'd stopped crying and pulled the hood down. So I asked her where she was going. We talked for about the next hour.

Her parents are divorced. Her dad used to be in the Army but now he's a mail carrier in Phoenix. Her mom wasn't back then, but is now in the Air Force and stationed in Anchorage. She'd just spent three weeks with her dad and was flying back home to her mom and two younger siblings. Her mom is getting remarried this summer to a man who lives in Maryland, so she'll have a step-dad and some step brothers, but she hasn't met them yet. They'll all be moving to Anchorage after the wedding, which will be in Hawaii. Her mom has been in Anchorage for almost two years and has another year there. When that's done the Air Force will send them all to live someplace else, but of course she doesn't know where.

DO NOT get divorced. This dear girl will grow up with no concept of a nuclear family where people are committed to each other through thick and thin. She will have dads, and maybe moms, and step-siblings. Maybe half-siblings. She may turn out to be a wonderful, well-adjusted woman who enters into a healthy lifetime marriage. But seriously, do you really think the odds of that are improved by what's already happened to her in the first decade of her life?
She deserves better. But adults who were foolish, or selfish, or both have made her life far more compex than a kid's life should be. No ten-year old should get on a plane by herself and cry like that because she has to leave a parent behind.

Now that I have that off my chest it's time for sleep. To the sound of rain. It's been a long time since I listened to rain as a fell asleep.