Fairies and Lions, Too

My sister is taking her first plane ride, and she is taking it all on her own, to a metropolis that does not know her. It is her first seminar, her first hotel stay and her first travel all alone. In my mind, she is still a child, not the Chemical engineer she had made herself become, and in my mind, she, like my brother, will always need protecting against the world. 

This would seem trite, to those used to travelling, and especially to those who have traveled since they were small, but for us, who have to strive in order to make it happen for ourselves, it is a testament, once again, of dreams becoming true.

This must be how parents feel, as their children make their dreams real, because of them, or, in some unfortunate cases, despite them. It feels strange, like I had been left out of an experience, which, in reality, could have never been mine anyway.

Perhaps, I have always thought that I would be there during my brother and my sister’s first plane ride. I have not imagined a scenario of them doing it alone or with other people. I had always thought that I had to make it happen for them: this thing imaginable only as a luxury when we were children, as we sprawled, belly-down, on our parents’ bed and on our daydreams.

Too soon, we have stopped dreaming of becoming princesses and warriors, just when kids our age started believing they can be fairies or lions. In the stead of wild childish imaginings, we dreamed of grown versions of ourselves, in important luncheon meetings, or in pilot cockpits. We talked too long about plane rides and hotel rooms, instead of wands and swords, of huge beds and hot and cold showers instead of superpowers and wings.

There were times when I wished we had it like other children did, but this—this unknowable triumph we share only with those who are like Us—this is irreplaceable. It escapes language and is articulated only by the glitter of tiaras, pixie dust and shining armors.

We do not mind if our first plane ride happened fifteen years too late into our lifetimes. This does not change a thing. Plane rides and hotel rooms are made of similar stuff as princesses or warriors, of fairies and lions, too.