Here’s to the Lonely Ones 

Published on by Marilyn


Here’s to the lonely ones, sitting at airports on Sunday nights.

Here’s to the tired ones, weary of travel and goodbyes, idly eating granola bars and sipping coffee from styrofoam cups.

Here’s to the mom, traveling with kids, weary of meeting the needs of little ones who are out of their habitat.

Here’s to the students, in that weird space between childhood and adulthood, carrying Apple computers purchased from graduation money.

Here’s to the immigrant family,  a long way from home, juggling as much hand luggage as possible as they wearily look at an airport monitor flickering out their flight delay in white digital letters.

Here’s to the grandparents heading home after visiting with a future generation of sweet and soft baby smell. A new generation who doesn’t yet know they exist, but will miss them long after they are gone.

Here’s to the third culure kid – who has said far too many goodbyes. Here’s to the refugee who carries their pain in their body. Here’s to the expat who is moving on to their next post with the fresh memories of their last home like an open grave receiving a coffin.

Here’s to Arabic and Hindi; Swahili and French; German and English; Chinese and Spanish; Portuguese and Farsi – and every other language of the heart that at times must be hidden in new places and spaces, but in the airport is completely at home.

Here’s to the singles and the couples; the black and the white; the discouraged and the lonely; the arguing one and the laughing one —  with more in common in life’s journey than any of us can possibly know.

Here’s to my fellow travelers, sitting under the glare of fluorescent lights in the chaos of modern day travel. May you have safe journeys and traveling mercies.  May God keep you in the palm of his hand and may you know his grace.

9 thoughts on “Here’s to the Lonely Ones ”

  1. Love this post. And didn’t realise how much I miss Kiswahili. I’m away for three months from ‘home’… back to Tanzania at the end of November! (Even got in a taxi and pretended to not know English on the taxi ride back to my flat after my weekend trip to Spain!)

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  3. Here’s to my tears that instantly flow as I think of the many international airport corridors I have walked in a vane attempt to stop the tears after telling yet another friend goodbye. These are the times I wish I did not grow up as a TCK.

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  4. And Marilyn my dearest daughter, here’s to you as you traveled home last evening! Thank you for the time from your busy life to come and spend the weekend with us (and all the others:) Wasn’t it fun! Even the funeral pre-planning visit and Dad wanting to “Save the Date!!” Do come again soon, and thank you so much for this post. It brings back so many memories of our uncounted miles of travel in past years. And May God keep YOU in the palm of his hand through all your travels, and through this work week – He’s there, too, isn’t He.

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    1. Thank you-I am identifying with most of the people you speak of in this post. All at the same time newly single after 20 years, having just travelled thousands of miles to drop my firstborn at college-who is one of those Apple carrying almost adults. Feeling lonely tonight but touched by this post. ❤️

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