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Nothing has been the same since she left and I have missed her terribly every single day. Her legs up on a chair in the morning sun as I serve her breakfast on the balcony and try to get her to try my latest fish paste discovery, the sound of her voice in the wholesale markets as she tells the girls she isn't going to pay this price and she isn't going to pay that price for the curtain material we are looking for, watching her small soft hands rip and tear at lobster shell as we eat over the water in Pattaya. Ex-pats and others told us that living together would never work. We were too different. But we have been together now for years. Bliss.

But my days of missing her are soon to be over. I'm going to Bhumi airport to pick her up. She is returning to the Kingdom and to me. To us. Soon, we'll be together again: sharing stories, laughing, discovering new things to do together and repeating the old things that are part of the tapestry of our lives. She emailed me and told me that as soon as she got back to Pattaya she wanted to go to Ko Larn and visit the mountainside Buddhist temple. I think it is a great idea. I have thought about doing it for years but always got sidetracked by beach and boating stuff. Anyway, we'll go over on the public ferry and then get the mother and son who run a store across the street from the ferry landing to take us to the temple. I'll ride on the back with my arms around the mother, and she will ride on the back with her arms around the big handsome Thai son. Simple pleasures. When we get to the temple she'll talk to the monks and take pictures. I'll find a place to sit and look over the land and the sea.

I'm at the airport now and . . .

"Oh god, she's there. I can see her coming towards me."

The flight from Japan was right on time and landed precisely at 11:55 p.m. Midnight and humid and hot for this time of night but no matter. I can see her. She's striding directly at me and smiling directly at me. A fifty thousand watt smile just for me. Sandals, tight capri pants, Indian top with exposed stomach, lots of jewelry, and nothing in her hands. She doesn't believe in carry-on luggage. She believes in elegance and the erect posture of the confident woman.

Oh god, my heart is about to burst. My life has come back to me. I can't believe that God gifted this woman to me. I'm starting to lose control. I am going to do an uncool Thai culture thing and just explode with happiness. I am going to shout out and call attention to myself and I don't care.

"HI MOTHER."

 

 

 

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