I drove Kyle to the airport this morning. It was the end of his Christmas break from Gonzaga University, and time for him to return. It was tough saying goodbye to him, as it was perhaps the best visit we have had with him in a very long time.
Much of what made this a particularly nice visit (and yeah, I am well aware of the awkwardness of the term) was how Kyle interacted with the whole family. For the last few years he would, whenever he stayed “back home”, stay holed up in his room in the basement with the door closed. He would usually emerge around dinner, and maybe for a total of an hour a day at miscellaneous times.
It was different as this time he spent time in his room, sure, but the door was usually open. Then there was the time he spent outside of his room actually interacting with family members. Sure, he’s a 20 year old male, and his interests are not necessarily the same as a 9, 7, 5 and 2 year old. And yes, they annoyed him and he got angry at them (perhaps too easily). Still, he actually participated like an actual family member, which was nice. He hadn’t done this in a long while. The last few times there were glimpses of this, but this was the first time he did this for a sustained period of time.
So I took him to the airport. And I didn’t get many pictures. And I am kicking myself for it. After dropping off August and Déla at school, Kyle, myself, Xavier and Ciárán piled into the Millennium Falcon and hit the road. Traffic was rough and it took longer than usual, but we arrived in plenty of time.
As Kyle was getting out, I asked Ciárán if he wanted to unbuckle to give Kyle a hug goodbye. It’s not unexpected for him to say no, but he usually does want to give hugs goodbye. Ciárán declined to give Kyle a hug, and said “Too bad!” and climbed over two benches to give him a hug goodbye. He gave Xavier a hug as well, and then of course me. It was really nice because it was all sincere.
On the way Xavier fell asleep.
Oh, I was at a stoplight when I turned around and took the picture.