Position

Elephant is exhausted.

We are in a larger plane and have strategically choen the middle section, three seats across. There’s a couple advantages to this: one, we have access to the bathroom on either aisle, and two, he can alternate his head between either of our laps.

You travel as three when older brother is in college. And there are advantages to three.

It’s a magic number, after all.

We remember the days of bottoms getting exhausted, stuck to the seat, when elephant was a heavy  toddler alternating between our laps.

It’s not quite the same with a teenager, but we make it all work.

He shifts and dozes uneasily, and I, too, feel the fatigue, and frustration, of sleep deprivation.

But then I catch myself.

Flying is not for everyone.

I am aware of my position.

Headrest, pillow, comfort all at once.

And, my position.

It is a privilege to travel at what is largely my convenience, those thousands of kilometers across the sea.

This is a miracle 

Not everyone has this chance

Be grateful, you entitled dork

I have my very own entertainment console at my fingertips. My own comfy chair. Helpful people who swing by, with food, to boot!

Elephant snoozes is in my lap and shifts his position.

I run my fingers through his hair

and he slowly breathes, in rhythm.

---

---