“Heading out,” I replied with a smile, feeling an unexpected thrill at those words. There was an excitement buzzing in my chest that I hadn’t felt in far too long. It reminded me of the first time Paul and I had boarded a plane together, bound for new adventures. The man beside me introduced himself as David. He was traveling alone, too, with plans to meet some friends in Austria for the holidays.
As the plane took off and the world below grew smaller, David and I began to chat. Conversation came easily. We talked about travel, family, and holiday traditions. I found comfort in his stories. He mentioned his own family, scattered across the country, and how traveling during Christmas had become his way of creating a new tradition for himself.
“Sometimes,” he said thoughtfully, “we have to make our own happiness, redefine what family means to us.”
