Paraguay #2: "Welcome Aboard.."

"Welcome aboard Air Canada Star Alliance flight 92." Sitting at this moment on the plane. The words coming over the speakers. Two days of orientation just finished (thanks Pascale! Siobhan! All who helped get us here!) and now the five of us are en route to Paraguay. We are a truly inter-generational group and as Maria, the youngest, joined us in the check-in line, Joseph the oldest, put his arm around her shoulders with a welcome squeeze, "Happy you're here".

And here with us is our baggage, our little piece of the world we bring. Fondly I thought of each of us packing, preparing for this journey we now begin for real (no gettin' off the plane!). Going over packing lists, consulting parents and loved ones, trips to the pharmacy and so on. We prepare prepare prepare but in the end, every trip is a giving of ourselves to the unknown. Every trip is magic.

My family comes to say good-bye. Just how many times can you hug your children? Just how many times can you kiss your wife? Why do they always seem most precious, most beautiful, when you say good-bye?

We prayed together before boarding. "Cover us with your cloak oh God, Unite us with your strings of Love."

The engines roar, we're about to head 40 000 feet into the sky. In less than 24 hours - we will be in Paraguay!
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