Leaving On A Jet Plane, Don't Know When I'll Be Back Again

     I am feeling restless and feverish.  Only 7 hours until my plane leaves the tarmac and I don't think I'll catch a single wink tonight.  It's been 11 years since we were together and, until now, I hadn't realized how much I missed him until I pulled the suitcase from its dusty storage and began to dig through my closet for something to wear that would leave an impression.  That special something that would make him say, "you look even better than the last time we were here together."

     Memory spills over to the first time we met.  I was 13, he was...ageless.  Debonair and delightful, he filled my head with a sense that the world was a magical place; that I could do anything, be anybody if I only believed.  

     I can picture his face in my mind, a perpetual smile and eyes so large they draw you in.  I saw a picture of him recently; he hasn't changed a bit.  Still charming the women, I'm sure.  But by sunset tomorrow I'll come walking back into his life for the third time, more confident than the last times; more ready for commitment.  

     Sigh.  Life is really too short to be holed up in some work-a-day world without adventure and romance.  His world is so free; so uninhibiting.  I want that again.  I'm ready.  

     I need to take a breath now and focus.  Am I forgetting anything?  Does it matter?  It may not be about what I take along but rather what I'm prepared to leave behind.  I look around at all of the things that comprise my life; whatever I can't get into a suitcase just doesn't matter.  

     Over the next week the sun will rise and the sun will set in his world and mine.  We'll be together.  He'll pull me into his familiar embrace and it will be like we'd never been apart.  He'll lean his head in toward mine and for a single moment the world will stop in a flash.  

     My husband will step out from behind his camera and grin.

     "Thanks Mickey."  I'll beam.  Mr. Mouse will wave his white glove as we leave, his effervescent charisma staying with us long after we've moved on.  

     Here I come, Disney World!