Ryan was on the plane and holding on to the hand rests. For all of his travels, he had still not gotten used to landings. He still preferred driving, but since he was coming from Europe, it was a little harder to drive to Seattle.
Once he disembarked from the plane, he made his way to baggage claim. Ryan saw his sister at the Baggage Claim area and hugged her.
“Dad would have like to have picked you up, but mom wasn’t feeling well today, so he stayed at the home.”
“I understand,” Ryan responded as he turned toward the baggage carousel to await his bags. Ryan knew that his mother hadn’t been well since the Alzheimer’s had gotten worse. She had been fine the last time that he saw her, about two months ago, but the news from his sister let him know that her time could be up soon.
“So,” his sister started as she stepped next to him. “Do you want to go see them, or do you just want me to take you back to the house so you can pick up your car?”
Ryan was more interested in his luggage than whatever his sister was saying and just nodded in agreement. She could tell that he wasn’t listening. “Fine,” she said. “I’ll just go get the car.” Again, he nodded.
After a few minutes, Ryan’s luggage appeared on the carousel and he grabbed it quickly. It was not that there were any valuable items in the bag, it was just that because of all the traveling he had done, Ryan had become somewhat paranoid of what could happen to people’s bags during flight, and that did not even take into consideration loss of luggage.
Once with his bags, Ryan semi remembered that his sister had gone to get her car, so he made his way outside the terminal. He waved at his sister as she approached. She slammed on the brakes quick and opened the door from the driver’s seat, popping the trunk at the same time.
“Get in,” she said. “Mom’s close. We have to get to the home.”
Ryan suddenly became a child again and his blue eyes began to tear. But before he could sit down and cry, the man in him pulled the child back inside and forced him to put his bags in the trunk and got into the car.
The trip to the Nursing Home seemed to take forever, even with Ryan’s sister speeding, fast enough for a police officer to stop her. However, once she explained, the officer let them go.
They arrived and found their father in their mother’s room, holding her hand. Ryan’s siblings and their families were gathered around, holding hands. A priest was already in the room and was quietly praying. Mark went to his mother and took her hand. He kissed it gently and then stepped back with the rest of his family. A few minutes later, his mother passed away.
