An Odd Sight

Traipsing through the airport the nine of us didn’t attract that much attention until only one of us got on the airplane.

The remaining eight, with noses touching the picture windows and tissues in hand, searched for the man leaving us for more than a year. Finding his face pressed against the tiny oval pane about mid-way down the aircraft, we waved frantically and blew a million kisses. People noticed and stopped to stare.

When was the last time they had seen a family bidding a loved one farewell at the departing gate of an airplane?

“How come they get to come all the way down here?” the curious murmured. “How did they get past security?” “What makes them so special?”

As of February 2005, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) implemented a policy that allows military families to receive a special pass to accompany service members all the way to the departure gate. They can also get a pass to meet them at the gate when they arrive back home.

We received the privilege of going to an airport gate to say good-bye, because my husband was heading overseas to join the War on Terror. A war that started the day we all lost this very freedom, September 11, 2001.

Let us never forget.