I watched him walk away, as he turned a few times to wave.  I watched him take off his shoes and go through the scanner a few times, and then disappear into the terminal.      Wiping my tears away, I was about to leave, when the guard at the desk said, “You can get a ticket to go with him if you want.”

“What?”, I said

Guard:   “You can go to the airline counter and get a security ticket so you can wait with him.”

Me:   “I can?    Thank you!”

And off we ran down to the counter, waited patiently for the people in front of us to check their luggage, and then got our security ticket.    Then we ran back upstairs, went through security, didn’t bother to put our shoes on, and walked up behind Ian, who was pacing through the terminal.  

We were all so excited to have the extra 45 minutes or so together.   It definitely made our day.

Walking away is definitely the hardest thing we have to do at the airport.     But the time we have together beforehand, and after we’re able to arrange another flight, is definitely worth it.

Happy New Year!