Four years ago today my family sat around the dining room table for one more dinner before I set out on my first solo journey in foreign lands. My sister and her fiance were to be married the following summer, so I gave them an engagement present that I had purchased the day I heard they had gotten engaged. It was the CD Spiral by Hiromi, because I happened to be at one of her concerts a few hours after I heard the good news. She signed it especially to them when I told her, which was nice of her because she had a long line of people behind me to sign autographs for. My sister isn't a huge jazz fan, but her husband is, and he really loved it. Then we sat around an enormous bonfire outside, even though there was snow all over the ground. We watched it for a while as a family, but at one point I went inside. I remember walking back to the fire and feeling ultimate isolation on the globe, and feeling something enormous was out there waiting for me, but also already all around me and well aware of what was going on all the time, and it was spooky to feel that in the chilly night air.
Later I sat at the dining room table with Folke, my soon to be brother-in-law, and talked about the journey waiting for me. I was nervous about the isolation and loneliness I expected to encounter, but he was very helpful in pointing out and proving through his own example that I would likely meet many people with different backgrounds, insights and points of view who would enrich the experience every step of the way. He was completely right. Not only that, but I met more travelers from Germany than any other country, so our conversation really turned out to be more foreshadowing than I realized at the time. Then Folke pointed out that my father was sitting by the fire alone and that this was a good opportunity for some one on one time. So I went out to the fire, and I swear it had burned down to the shape of a fiery glowing pyramid. I don't remember everything we talked about, but I felt very comfortable, like I had already proven myself by living on my own in the city the past three years. But he had some of his own adventures to share, such as working and camping near the North Pole shortly before I was born, and having to keep an eye out for man-hunting polar bears.
Afterward I was alone in my room and trying not to think of everything I feared about the journey ahead. I listened to music and read and tried to sleep, but I only slept for one hour before getting up for one more family breakfast and driving down to Long Island to spend a night before my flight to India.
Later I sat at the dining room table with Folke, my soon to be brother-in-law, and talked about the journey waiting for me. I was nervous about the isolation and loneliness I expected to encounter, but he was very helpful in pointing out and proving through his own example that I would likely meet many people with different backgrounds, insights and points of view who would enrich the experience every step of the way. He was completely right. Not only that, but I met more travelers from Germany than any other country, so our conversation really turned out to be more foreshadowing than I realized at the time. Then Folke pointed out that my father was sitting by the fire alone and that this was a good opportunity for some one on one time. So I went out to the fire, and I swear it had burned down to the shape of a fiery glowing pyramid. I don't remember everything we talked about, but I felt very comfortable, like I had already proven myself by living on my own in the city the past three years. But he had some of his own adventures to share, such as working and camping near the North Pole shortly before I was born, and having to keep an eye out for man-hunting polar bears.
Afterward I was alone in my room and trying not to think of everything I feared about the journey ahead. I listened to music and read and tried to sleep, but I only slept for one hour before getting up for one more family breakfast and driving down to Long Island to spend a night before my flight to India.
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