We’ve just welcomed Pyper, our younger niece, back to Rosslyn for a summer visit. After hurricane-turned-tropical-storm Debby scrambled her flights she finally arrived in Burlington. And an August-perfect ferry ride across Lake Champlain later she was greeted on our back deck by Susan and Carley, both beside themselves with giddy joy. Ah, such arrival anticipation!
Although this photo, made three years ago today, captures Carley and Susan in our bedroom looking down at the deck, their arrival anticipation is palpable. Part pent up elation, part bursting-at-the-seams restraint, this photo captures them as we arrived just short of noon.
It’s a familiar frenzy. Overflowing enthusiasm as we approach a moment of re-welcoming, family and friends to Rosslyn. Our home and our lives thrive on these spirited moments. Our hearts on our shirtsleeves. Our dopamine spikes.
In the photograph a throw pillow is lying on the floor next to Carley’s ball instead of resting, plump and pretty, on the window seat. No forensics are needed. We can easily decipher the scene: my bride and my dog leaping up from whatever they were doing, racing to the window, disrupting the cushions, Carley being allowed to perch in the velvet seat where she’s not normally permitted,… Spontaneous. Joy-filled. Just like today.
Carley is all-in when it comes to welcomes. She absolutely loves hellos and welcome backs. For a moment, you’re a supernova in her solar system. After a painfully patient countdown, hours or maybe even days of arrival anticipation, you are here. Her adulation is forthcoming and physical. It’s a pretty good feeling to be on the receiving end of all that love!
Arrival Anticipation
Eyes fixed and
heartbeat, beat, beats
synchronized
barely contained,
pulsing, coursing.
The purest
restless joy,
time pausing,
waiting,
the instant
before greetings,
before togetherness
again.
What do you think?