This morning was the first time I had to say goodbye to Audrey and Mason together (aside from when she traveled at the end of month 6, but at that point he was a bit small to be handling and kissing goodbye). She, in true Audrey fashion, was up running about much earlier than probably need be while father and son slumbered away. Zola was on our page, too.
Suddenly, at 5:15 AM, she came in, grabbed Mason, told me in no uncertain terms that it was time to leave, and that was that. Neither Mason or I enjoyed the next 15 minutes of excruciating morningness, but we made it to the airport, he asleep, me dreaming of sleep.
Once the brazen lights of the airport jolted us into a Walmart stupor, we were all wide awake, with only Mason unfazed by the inevitable distance that is now growing between us, they moving westward back in time, me, the pillar of now.
There are clothes that didn't make the trip in the back bedroom, dishes in the sink that haven't gotten washed from last night, a dog wanting breakfast early, and a man left to his own devices.
