The Travel Bag

When we made the trip of a lifetime to Eastern Europe in 2016 we needed new suitcases.  The old ones did not have the convenience of wheels.  Well, wheels that still worked.  I spent some time researching and finally purchased bags from e-bags.com.  There were four bags.  A suit bag that could hold two men's suits as well as shoes, socks, etc with swiveling wheels.  A 32-inch with an expandable top with stationary wheels.  The wheels turn of course just do not swivel. A 20-inch with expandable top and swiveling wheels.  One bag that fits underneath the airplane seat in front of me.  No expansion gussets and the wheels do not swivel.  We mostly use this last bag for our individual bathroom bags, extra plugs, and cords for phones and other small devices.  

The bathroom bag as we call the smallest bag makes a great weekender bag if only one of us is traveling.  That is the bag I have left within easy reach over the last few weeks.  It was the 'just in case I needed to go" to be with my Sis #1.  Wednesday night of this week I was preparing to drive north on Thursday afternoon to help with Sis #1.  That trip never happened.  Sis #1 passed before noon on Thursday as I noted in my previous post.

So now I sit once more in my recliner.  There is an emptiness that was once filled by Sis #1.  We seldom called one another.  We did stay in touch by texts and Marco Polo apps.  Of course Sis #1 sort of lived on Facebook since her retirement at 80 years of age.  She posted photos of sunrises and sunsets until she could no longer walk without help.  Then all her Facebook friends and our Niece #2 started posting for her.  Sis #1 would leave a post at night inviting folks to join her for coffee in the mornings.  As expected, she would have a post in the early hours about her first cup of coffee.

One cousin in California is a fan of dragons.  Each day she posts a dragon of some sort.  At some point, Sis #1 decided to start writing a comment about what the dragons were saying.   Folks became a fan of the comments.  About 3 or 4 weeks before her passing she was no longer able to comment.  Sis #2 took up the gauntlet. Sis #1 posted memes about flowers every day.  I guess I could do that since that is one thing we had in common, a love of gardening.  But it just will not be the same.

This morning I put the bag away up on the shelf.  I shed a few tears knowing why the bag no longer needed to be ready to pack quickly.  There are no sister times planned at this time.  For many years Sis #1 was unable to attend sister times so it was just the three of us.  Once Sis #1 retired and was no longer married nor caring for her ill son, she began attending sister time.  We will be back to the three of us.  I am calling us the Three Quarter Sisters as in 3/4 or three-fourths of The Sisters.  

The positive side of this is I no longer will tense up when the phone rings.  Or a text notification sounds.  I can smile at something my son, DIL, or grandkids text.  Even look forward to pulling down one of the bags for a bit of travel.  All this and knowing Sis #1 is no longer in pain.  I also know I did what I could for her when she was alive.  But there will always be the baggage of her love for us sisters to carry.  And that baggage has expansion capabilities and wheels that not only swivel but dance to whatever tune is played.  Now that is the best kind of baggage.

Y'all take care out there in the world.  I'll sit in my apartment hiding from the 106-7 ℉ (41.6 ℃) temperatures.

Peace,

Janice