The Airport..."I can't live if living is without you."

The Airport..."I can't live if living is without you."
"Excuse me sir, are you flying Delta?" The Kiosk sales girl said to get my attention. I'm in terminal A; there's nothing but Delta here, so I kept walking.
  After breakfast in the Mercure Hotel, Santo Domingo, and a 15 mile drive along the Carribean, we entered the world of flying - checking bags, browsing gift shops, going through security and watching the masses from all over the world.
  The flight to Atlanta wasn't full, so I had an empty seat and no chitchat with a stranger. In flight movie and sermon prep (Jack not David slew the giant), before making a smooth landing back in the USA, where I quickly cleared Customs and took the tram to Terminal A.
  I know our country is a mess, but it's still the land that I love; so anytime I travel overseas, I always have a great sense of pilgrimage home, when I step off the plane in an American airport.
  For years we've had a running contest in our family about who's been in the most countries. Our oldest son is tops by several, and he claims that airports don't count. (I've been in Nairobi, Adis Ababa, Zurich, Rome, and Paris but never out of their Airports.) Well even if they don't count, when I walk into the Atlanta terminals (and mostly hear English), I feel that I'm home.
  Being home truly has multiple levels - ordering pizza, hearing English, getting cellphone coverage, reacquainting with the familiar, reconnecting with family, sleeping in my own bed, but most of all it's about being back with Jane.
   I ate dinner in a piano bar where the guy was playing, "I can't live if living is without you," and suddenly I was unconsciously singing under my breath. If I was more spiritual like the Apostle Paul, I would say, "For me to live is Christ, to die is gain." (Which I used to quote while surfing in thunderstorms), but in this life, in years of journey, Jane has ever been my faithful friend, constant companion, sacrificial servant and intimate lover.
  We've boarded for Charleston, a full flight, I'm in the middle seat with strangers on either side (you can't look out the window or to the aisle without them thinking you're staring at them); this stage of the adventure is winding down. My airport field trip is nearly over (Charleston International here I come!); I can almost feel her embrace - then I'll be home.