I’m not a frequent flyer, I don’t travel that much and when I do, I usually opt for a road trip instead. I’ve never been a big fan of flying. But my daughters have recently moved out of state and I frequent Denver International Airport to pick them up and drop them off.  There is something I love about airports.  Every time I sit there waiting, I am amazed at how busy the airport is. At any given time of day , there are literally thousands of people coming and going. Last week, I picked my daughter up on a Wednesday morning.  Who were all these people traveling in the middle of the week? Didn’t they have jobs? Or maybe they were traveling for work.

Anyway, last Wednesday, my daughter’s plane was slightly delayed, so I was sitting and waiting for her arrival, when I noticed this line of people. They were all clearly very excited, jumping up and down and conversing among themselves. After watching, like those around me for a few minutes, I walked over and asked if I could take a picture of them for my blog. I spoke to the lady that seemed to be in charge of the group. She told me that her son was coming home after a mission trip for their church to Brazil. They hadn’t seen him in two years! So his parents, grandparents, brothers, sisters and cousins had all assembled to welcome him home. As she told me their story, the lady who had been sitting next to me, a stranger, broke into tears of joy for them. As anxious as I was for my daughter to get there, it had been three months since I’d seen her, I found myself hoping that their son go there first so I could watch their celebration. Well, he did, and they all went crazy jumping up and down and taking their turns welcoming him home. This is one of his sisters.

Shortly thereafter, my own daughter arrived,  and though she had been gone a much shorter time, I was equally excited to have her home.

Airports are happy places, places where people reunite with loved ones. They remind us of the value of human relationships. I love airports!