Europe 2022: Travel Day

Last night, my son Jake asked when we were leaving for the airport. “8:30,” I said. He asked, “What time’s your flight? Noon?” I admitted that yes, we were flying out at noon, and muttered a few defenses about international flight and checking in and making sure everything was squared away. He laughed at my anxieties.

At 4:17 this morning, I awoke. Doom-scrolling kept me in bed until 6:00, when I gave up on more sleep. As I headed to the bathroom to shower, Sherry gasped, “My side hurt all night. I think I have to go to the hospital.” Another kidney stone? For a split-second, she got me. Then I laughed. Not falling for it. And then we shared the laugh. The battery in her Jeep died while she was running errands yesterday, so my son Russ and I had to tag team a battery swap in a parking lot. One chronological catastrophic coincidence, she could pull off. Not two.