Departing Dublin
Tuesday, 10 January 2012
Dublin, Ireland to New York, New York
It was an interesting morning as we hustled and bustled to get out of the flat on time. Speeding through downtown Dublin, running various errands, and getting the car dropped off near her brother’s flat, we parked the car and coordinated for a taxi cab to meet us. Just as we were driving up to the parking spot we realized we were behind the taxi cab that was our carriage to the Air Dragon Court. Racing until we were out of breathe, we made it to the airport in time to quickly say goodbye to one another as we’d soon meet across the pond. We were booked on separate flights. Check-in was still frantic as they were already boarding my plane as I had to check my luggage, rush through security, do pre-clearance, and then board the plane. Luckily the “boarding time” they listed was the time that you had to be at the gate itself, so I wasn’t so late. Didn’t get a chance to go through Duty Free though. Thoughts of my sweet fiancee drifted through my thoughts as i tried to contact her for a last moment before actually boarding to my seat. Who knows, it could have been the last time I’d see her for a long time as I wasn’t even sure if she got through pre-clearance okay and was boarding her plane. Luckily her departure gate was just a couple down from mine, so once she got through we got to embrace, kiss, and bid farewell to one another as we’d soon meet across on the shore’s of the New World to connect once again.
Flying over New England
It was a long flight, but got a chance to catch up on some movies I’ve been wanting to see. Didn’t feel social and just plugged in my headphones for the entire flight not talking to anyone. Food was okay and was able to manage about 4 hours of sleep. Woke up just as we were flying over New England and a warm sense of “being home” overcame me. There are many things I missed about America. It was in many ways good to be home where I don’t have to re-learn everything in day-to-day activities like I’ve had to do over the last 3 months while adjusting to life in Eire.
As the plane touched down in New York, ease of departing the plane went smoothly as no customs was had to go through since America and Ireland have a unique relationship where customs was done back in Ireland before boarding the plane. I headed out towards passenger pickup and found the shuttle service to take me from La Guardia to JFK where I’d meet up with my twin flame as we’d board the plane together flying to visit my mom, brother, and sister-in-law in South Carolina. This 16 hours of flight time was the longest me and Eadaoin had been apart at any given time over the last three months. It was quite hard, though we had survived a month and a half apart from one another separated by the Atlantic Ocean during our courtship after Burning Man.
We watched an episode of “Lost Girl” as we waited to board our plane, snacking on evil fast food as our only affordable option in the airport. As we flew from New York to Charleston, we were happy to be in one another’s arms and presence again. The flight went well and soon enough touched down in South Carolina. Mom and my brother Bill awaited to greet us at the airport as we collected our checked luggage and headed back to the car. My mom, now 82, is getting up there. This was an important meeting time for her to get to know her future daughter-in-law as who knows how long she’ll be around in the years to come. Already at midnight, we settled into a glass of wine, introductions, and a restful sleep to overcome intense jetlag.
Landing in New York
