What’s Most Important May Surprise You

Exactly two months ago Sumie and I shared a small strawberry shortcake with Mimi in honor of her first birthday.  That May 24^th was also my last day of my old job.  It was a turning point in our lives.; a celebration of the accomplishments of the last nine years – the New York years – and the first step in the new adventure to come.

Today, July 24^th, we arrived in San Francisco.  For the first time in 10 years, we arrived without a return ticket.  It’s now official.  We’re here and we’re here to stay. 

Exhausted from the apartment cleaning extravaganza of the 23^rd, Sumie and I still managed to wake at 5am on Sunday the 24^th to make our 8:30am flight.  We had stayed the night with Sumie’s parents who, we found out, had a wonderful little surprise for us.  They had booked us a limo to the airport.   We were able New York than in one of its ubiquitous symbols: the black Lincoln Town Car (which,  like us, may soon be gone from the New York landscape).  In the morning the entire family gathered to see us off.  Mimi gave Harry-chan, her favorite playmate, and Oba-chan one last kiss before we all headed to the airport. 

 The trip out was relatively uneventful.  Mimi decided that she only needed about 45 minutes of total sleep, despite having woken up 2 hours early.   I think she was excited.

Even with walks up and down the plane every 30 minutes, Mimi still found time to try a little something new.  We had downloaded a Thomas the Tank Engine story to our computer, which would provide great video, but we only had earbuds for audio.  Mimi had never experienced these and was entirely mesmerized when she discovered that some little white button on a string contained the voice of her favorite storyteller.  She cracked a huge smile!  Though she was able to hold the earbud against her ear with some accuracy by the end of the video, I’m still not convinced that she really understands the purpose behind headphones.  Despite the occasional smile when they were used correctly, they spent most of the time in Mimi’s mouth. 

6 hours came and went and we found ourselves at the baggage claim by around noon pacific time.  The vast majority of our belongings are now in storage, so we only brought the essentials.  This came down to 3 duffels, 2 messenger bags, a diaper bag, “old red” (our massive travel suitcase), a stroller, baby car seat, and my trusty business carry-on.  Packing for a flight when you’re moving is entirely different from preparing for any business trip or vacation.  One needs to pack not only the essentials for getting through the day, but also for getting your life back on line.  It’s a scary proposition.  

I had decided to put everything we absolutely couldn’t live without into my reliable carry-on.  Over the past 10+ years it has accompanied me across the United States and Canda, to Japan, and England without complaint.   What better way to ensure that all our vital documents and possessions were protected than by travelling with them immediately above us, snug in an overhead bin?  And with everything essential to our future life contained in this one bag, there’s no way we’d ever let it out of our sight, right?  The little green roller thus contained the following:

·      Passports for me, Sumie, and Mimi

·      Social Security Cards

·      Sumie’s Green Card

·      All our Birth and Marriage Certificates

·      All materials Sumie needed for her new position in SF

·      The ownership certificate for our co-op in NYC

·      Our most treasured personal jewelry, including the Bulova Accutron Spaceview watch my father gave me the day before he died

Now, back to the baggage claim.  Naturally it was there that I realized, and only after a 20 minute delay because of “mechanical baggage delivery failure,” that we were a bag short.  It’s not all that hard to guess which one it was, is it? 

“How can this be?”  I thought.  “I’m normally so anal about these kinds of things.  I’ve never lost a bag.  I’ve never even left anything on a plane.  What the hell!?”  I immediately checked with Sumie and my Mom (some may say that I was preparing to blame them) to see if they had moved my carry-on while I was over at the carousel picking up the remainder of our bags.  No, they hadn’t.  That’s when the penny finally dropped.  I had left my bag – the one bag that we actually needed – behind.

Paper white and on the verge of a mental breakdown with a hint of cardiac arrest, I asked the baggage claim information if they had happened to find my bag.  I thought back.  How could I let go of that case?  And then it dawned on me: the stroller.  We had gate checked the stroller and then picked it up in the jetway.  I must have left my carry-on there.  And, many, many thanks to God or whatever power you want to thank (I’m thanking them all right now), I was right. 

Despite never being able to live this mistake down (Sumie would have to forget one of our children for met to be in the clear), I did realize something rather cool.  The reason I forgot my bag on the jetway was because, in picking up the stroller, that bag was not the most important object in my life: Mimi was.  She’d had a tough flight and I needed to get her in the stroller and out of the airport.  It was as simple as that.  To be clear, I’m not blaming my little girl.  I’m just rather amazed at how a child can so drastically, even violently, shift one’s priorities, even if it’s only for a few minutes. 

Happy to say that we recovered the case and are now enjoying a beautiful evening with Grandma and Grandpa Reber.  All told, it was an eventful, but successful, first day in California.  We will miss everyone in New York, though, more than they know!