by Jo Barnes –
The Victoria International Airport is a busy place where people come and go as daily flights arrive and depart. Travellers move with determination to make connections or wait anxiously for loved ones to arrive. Airports are places of joy and sadness, departures and reunions. Everyone has a story, and it’s here that we’ll be sharing some of them.
Husbands waiting for their wives’ flights to arrive can be anxious, eager, distracted, focused; in fact, the manner in which each husband waits in anticipation is as unique as each marriage. Some sit quietly looking up occasionally at the Arrivals Board; others pace with cell phone in hand.
“I’m waiting for my wife Marie. She’s flying in from Vancouver,” says Michael Langley.
“She’s coming in from Brandon,” shares Bruce Maybank. “She’s been seeing old friends.”
Family bonds and friendship ties prompted these trips. Bruce’s wife Karen Foubert had planned her trip for awhile. Michael’s wife Marie wanted to spend time with her sister and children. And, while both fellows understand the importance of wives reconnecting with loved ones, they also know that the days of being apart have begun to add up.
“I’ve been baching it for a while now, about 11-and-a-half days,” shares Michael, adding: “Well the evenings get kind of lonely sometimes you know.”
“Yes, it’s been nine days since I last saw her,” Bruce says.
It can seem a long time when you’re apart, and seeing someone again is confirmation.
“We’ve been staying in touch more or less by texting, but it’s not the same as talking,” says Michael.
All kinds of travellers arrive at the gate. Some stroll through without meeting anyone, others into the arms of another. And for those who have been waiting to hear their spouse’s voice again and have the opportunity to talk face to face, it’s a unique reunion as unique as each couple.
Airports are not always about hellos, sometimes it’s about goodbyes. Vacations end and it’s time to return to work. Visits with family are over, and it’s time to head home.
Paulette and Brian Reamer have been on holiday in Victoria and are returning to their home in Alberta. “Everyone says come to Victoria, so we did!” says Paulette, adding: “It’s just so beautiful here.”
While it’s been a good break for the couple enjoying local sightseeing spots like Butchart Gardens, they’re enthusiastic to return home.
“I’m looking forward to seeing my grandkids,” shares Paulette.
Sometimes airport departures prompt mixed emotions. Sitting waiting, luggage at their side, a couple chat and check their cell phones. “We’re heading off to Calgary. We’ve been visiting family on the Island,” shares Lynn Evans.
Ron and Lynn Evans have been all over the Island: Langford, Victoria, Sooke, Nanaimo and Courtenay. The days have been full with travel, conversation, and dinners. “Sometimes you just get so busy with your own life,” shares Lynn. “You lose touch with people.”
Lynn grew up in the Langford area over 37 years ago, and has definitely noticed some changes. But somehow when you reconnect with family, the surface changes fade away. You pick up where you left off last time.
“We live in a world where there’s value in material things, but it’s important to see how valuable people are,” says Ron. “There’s nothing more important.”
Heading off to the gate, the couple may be leaving the island, but they take with them a suitcase full of memories and experiences to last until the next visit.
Airport gates are like portals through which we pass on our way to another experience or stage in life. We fly out for a job experience, and then, a year later, fly out from the same airport for a vacation we’ve been planning for a long time.
It’s early evening, and a young woman quietly sits in the Arrivals rotunda.
“I’m waiting for my boyfriend. He’s coming in from Prince Rupert,” says Josephine Simpson.
Josephine’s boyfriend Alex Browne works in the field of environmental remediation.
“He works in diverse sites,” she shares. “Sometimes it might be an old gas station. Sometimes pipes from an old hydrant have creosote in them and that’s not good for the soil.”
As our dialogue continues it quickly becomes apparent that a
sincere interest in the environment is something the two young people share.
Says Josephine: “I’m a student in environmental studies.”
Like her boyfriend, Josephine too has passed through the Victoria Airport more than once because of her interests and studies.
“I was in Ecuador for four months as I’m also a student in Latin Studies. When I came home I flew into here (Victoria Airport).”
Soon Alex arrives at the gate and enfolds Josephine in his arms. They smile as they head off together caught up in conversation that is undoubtedly about environmental issues. It’s another picture of travellers passing through one door to another one in their life journey.
