In a whirl of airport lounges, queues, and cramped airline seats, I eventually found myself stepping out of the terminal at Tacoma International Airport. Massaging the strain in my neck, I dragged my small trolley bag out of the airport and went to the taxi rank, relieved when it was finally my turn to climb in and collapse in the back seat.
“Horizon View, Lake Forest, please,” I told the driver.
The driver was chatty and asked whether I was here for a holiday or work. “Visiting my dad,” I explained.
“Ah, a local, are ya?” He caught my eye conspiratorially in the rearview mirror.
I smiled. “Used to be. I’ve been living abroad in Berlin for a while.”
The driver soon shared with me his plan to take a sightseeing tour of all the states with his wife when he retired. He asked me about Berlin, and I told him about how the city’s history and architecture were amazing, and I admitted that I missed my home city. Something I was increasingly aware of as the cab took us south and Seattle’s cityscape loomed ahead of us.
We lapsed into a comfortable silence, and I took in the sight of the Space Needle dominating the skyline. I remembered fondly how thrilled I’d felt as a kid first looking out from it across the heights of the city. I remembered the beautiful, arty Chihuly garden and glass exhibition space near it too. I’d been captivated by the colorful hues of its glass exhibitions, and even the memory of them flooded me with warmth as if I still stood beneath their dazzling shades.
Before my mom passed away, we’d spent some of the happiest weekends there, enjoying the glass sculptures and lush gardens illuminated by lights in the dusk. Bittersweet memories of my mom and dad’s smiling faces as they wandered around the place occupied me. Feeling nostalgic, I wondered about revisiting those artworks while I was visiting. Maybe my dad or Bert would be up for coming with me. I wondered if I could use the place as inspiration for a new range of designs next summer. The exhibition’s bright color palette amidst the amber lights had always reminded me of summer blending into fall. I mused about coming back to Seattle for photo shoots with my next clothing line, but my stomach somersaulted.