My Friend Ann, Wings and Wheels

                                              

I have a friend who has that well known ‘lust’… no not that one, the other one, the ’wanderlust’. 
She wanted to go everywhere, see everything, know everything.
After her divorce Ann started traveling with  Senior Tour groups. I met her in London on one of the trips; she had been to Venice, Rome, Israel, Amsterdam… and she loved every place she’d been.
And then she met someone that she liked. They began a relationship that was good in many ways. Except for one problem, my friend's friend (she thinks the word ‘boyfriend’ is such a silly word at her age!) didn’t like to travel. In fact, he felt it was a waste of time and money, and asked my friend often, “Why do you like to go away, what are you running away from?” She said, “I’m not running from anything, I just love to see new things, historical places… new cultures…
But he didn’t ‘get it’. “I don’t like it when you go away without me.”
“So come with me. We’ll travel together,it’ll be great!” She had seen couples traveling together and felt a little envious.
But he also hated to fly, or to be more honest about it, he was afraid. “If God meant for us to fly,” he said, “he would have given us wings.” She knew he wasn’t a religious man…was he a philosopher, a modern day prophet?  He’d  repeat it over and over and she tried to come up with a response to it.
“And did you?” I asked Ann over lunch.
She nodded, “I told him, ‘If God wanted us to drive he would have given us wheels instead of toes. That way we’d never have to get into our cars…. and look for parking spaces…. or hail a cab late at night… or wait for the bus…"
I laughed at the image she presented, “What did he say?"
"He said that I was mocking him. But then I told him, 'really it’s not a problem, I’ll go with my tour group … be back in 10 days.’
He shook his head, “No, uh, uh.” He kept shaking his head…“no.”
"I stared at him and waited,"  Ann continued.“ 'So, … you’ll come with me…?' I was confused."
“No… and I don’t want you to go either.”
“Anywhere?"
Silence.
“EVER?”
"He didn’t answer. We just stared at each other, waiting to see who’d blink first."
“Who did?” I asked Ann.
“Me. I just changed the subject, it wouldn’t have to come up anyway, not until the Spring.”
Ann and I changed our subject also.I thought; At what point do we decide that we will not be told  by anyone what we may or may not do?
For those afflicted with wanderlust, satisfaction comes in three stages, the first, obviously, actually being there, experiencing the sights, the smells, the sounds of the place. The second is reliving it with the stories, showing the photos, etc. AndI finally the planning stage is also a lot of fun.
But, unhappily, she couldn’t plan for her Spring trip with him. She was yearning to go to Athens and maybe a few days on one of the Greek islands. The more she researched it the more excited she became.
Her dilemma was complete.
For myself, I had a very definite opinion which I was not going to share with her… it was just too rude!
Over the winter months I wasn’t in touch with Ann, I was away out of town for a family wedding and then to a grandchild’s graduation. I didn’t feel comfortable calling her to ask her how the 'problem' with her 'friend' was resolved. When I got home we spoke, we‘d meet for lunch.
She looked happy and at ease.We hugged.
So how have you been...how's Bob?"
She shrugged, "Well, we'll see" she said. "I am taking a trip in a few weeks..."
"Oh! You 're going anyway..." I didn't need to continue, she knew what I was referring to.
"Yes, I realized that if God wanted me to sit on the couch for the rest of my life, he wouldn't have given me legs and even more, eyes and ears and a mind that wants to see and know the world.! That's exactly what I told him."
"And, what does he say to that?"
"Nothing...yet. I'm waiting."
"Will you be okay?" I asked.
"I'll be fine." She picked up the menu," Let's order, I'm famished.!"
                                    
                                                THE END