Page 80 - Obruni In Ghana | Amber Lockridge

78 EPISODE 10: COMING HOME – PART 2
I remember the shock of stepping out of the plane into thick air, sweltering and humid, that clung to my skin and filled my lungs like a hot, wet blanket. Now I’m dismayed by the coolness of the plane’s cabin and my lungs pain me for the enveloping warmth of that tropical womb. How am I going to survive a Minnesota winter!?
I keep straining my neck to look out the window just one more time. If my family in the city arrived to see me off, they have come too late. I try to remember the last time I held my smallest sister Abena, that memory will have to serve as our final goodbye. At least I my best friend Anita stayed with me in the morning and then walked me all the way to the gate. I can’t seem to make myself cry unless someone else is and then I can’t keep myself from it. Does that invalidate the emotion? I long for the grief. There is something sweet and echoing about the pain and despair.
The stewards and stewardesses are so tense, plastic smiles beneath taut, stress-drawn eyes. It pains me just to look at them. Apparently no one is