The One Truth
We had been to Chicago to attend my older son’s graduation. We were on a hectic schedule. We not only had to attend his graduation, but we had to help him pack his belongings, clean his apartment, and move out. Then we had planned to take a 4-hour trip to Michigan where my best friend from school lives, stay for a couple of nights, and then return back to Chicago and take a flight from there back to Houston. Not only that, we had to lug his instruments with us the whole trip, up and down and on the airplane as well, as they can’t be checked in. So there was plenty of room for moments of anxiety within this trip.
I was especially very anxious about whether they would allow us to bring the four instruments, as they were huge. Between the four of us, we had a guitar, a ukulele, a violin, and a harmonium. The airplane onward and back were delayed by 3 and 5 hours. The drive from Michigan was delayed by an hour and we were rushing everywhere. And they kept moving us between three gates over the 5 hours, up and down the airport. They kept repeatedly calling for all those who had rolling luggage and duffel bags to check them in because they didn’t have enough room for the carry-on bags. These days almost everybody brings a filled-up shoulder bag as a personal item, hence the need for checking in as many carry-ons as possible. So while anxiety kept getting the better of me, I was also getting reminded — and reminding myself — that I am one with the universe, and if that were the case, I should be allowed to carry the instruments safely back home without any issues. It was really hard to believe that in that moment. But as I kept reminding myself, my baseline anxiety kept diminishing.
Finally we got on the airplane and we got two full compartments to keep our instruments, with only one other person keeping his backpack in the space where we had no instruments. Besides that, there was a huge thunderstorm in Chicago which moved in only after we had settled safely into the airport after returning our rental car to the parking garage. Even though we didn’t get a booster seat as we had requested for my 6-year-old daughter, we got a car seat, which was even better. My friend’s family celebrated my younger son’s birthday with ice cream cake. And there was no thunderstorm or turbulence during our flights onward and back.
Even though everything seemed like a big hassle, our journey itself was pretty streamlined. We even enjoyed a couple of graduation parties after his graduation the next day, and we were even able to visit his beloved restaurants, which he had intended to show us before we left.
How did everything work out so well, as if all was planned and nothing was left out? It seems like there is a master plan, a grand design, for every one of us — and it all works out well as long as we don’t fight it and bring about our own destruction.
Hi Shalini,
I enjoyed this piece. I am so glad your trip ended up being enjoyable, which as you have acknowledged, wasn't promised by fate, by God, by happenstance, or however else you may prefer to label the machinations of the universe.
And congratulations to your son on his graduation. But also, I huge congratulations to you, his Mama, who gave him life, love and a youth of the sort in which he was able to even attend college at all, which is not what everyone can hope for.
I am very happy for you - for all of it. You should feel very proud!