Airplanes and Promises

circa March 2008

my sister, Karin: "you're going to graduate this May."
me:"yup, in a hot three months. I have a semi-failed internship, and don't think I'll pass Childhood Literature. so, two W's for me."
sister: "let's go to Italy."
me: "I couldn't think of a more logical response."

Three months later we found ourselves on a transatlantic flight. Pulling out of the gate in Tampa, I leaned into Karin, "I'm not even nervous. We have no effin idea what we're getting ourselves into and I've been more scared walking into a 7-11."

Karin: "That's cause we have each other."

and there we have it, our relationship summed up. We have each other. We've already faced challenges and ended up coming out more vibrant. We seen stuff, we survived. Signing up to teach English in Italy at summer camps really did seem like nothing. ha.

Would I have been nervous if I knew what this flight was bringing me to? I can pinpoint this exact flight as changing the course of my life. What if at the moment the plane pulled from the gate, I had a glimpse into what was waiting for me, would I have asked to turn around? Would I have cried until someone asked if I was ok? An anxiety attack? More than likely, I would have sweated, asked for a double rum and coke, used the cocktail napkin to wipe the perspiration off and would turn to hear my sister say, "It's going to be ok: we have each other."