The family piled in the white suburban, newly washed as the shiny silver rims reflected the burning sun as the car emerged from its hiding place like a bear from its den. Brown leather suitcases filled to the brim with suitcoats, books, passports, and reminders of home. The first few minutes of the ride were painfully quiet, with each turn of the wheel the family grew one foot closer to the moment they’ve been dreading yet hopeful for the past 4 months. They couldn’t hear anything but the beating of their hearts and the pain in their souls. With every bump in the road, every car passed, a fond memory of a colorful 18 years rushed through and flooded the people’s minds. Feet tapping excitedly and quiet reminiscent chatter were the only sounds that could be heard over the road flying past underfoot. Five excruciatingly long minutes passed when the first sign of laughter erupted in the car. One of the sons had finally broken the tension by poking fun at his sister. Now that the ice had been broken, the family continued to chatter about seemingly irrelevant things, as if they were trying to pretend that this car ride would be the last they took together as a family in 3 long years. Dread, excitement, and fear hung in the air, one battling to overcome the other like the sun and the moon. Back and forth, back and forth, the families minds slipped from sorrow, to optimism, and back and forth and back and forth. For moments at a time, the people forgot that they were saying goodbye to life as they know it. Tires screeched as stores and signs flew past. Too soon, the awaiting exit emerged, the sign reading off ‘This way to Phoenix Shy Harbor International Airport’. The family knew their time together was coming to an end. The shiny silver door handle popped open and the door slowly swung ajar. The people’s faces were stung with the burning heat of the Arizona summer weather. The dark parking garage had a baleful feel to it, with the buzzing of the overhead hanging lights, the faint rumblings of luggage, vehicles and people, and the overwhelming smell of emissions and fuel, the families senses were bombarded. So much was happening in so little time. Before they knew it they were inside the airport. The bustling of hundreds of people, all with something different weighing on them, someplace to be. It all seemed like a show, like a beautifully orchestrated and perfectly executed ballet. The dancers each pulled their muted luggage across the shiny tile floor. Wheels turned, people talked, and time continued to tick on. Mutterings of a checklist could faintly be read on the mothers lips.

 One: Get the packing list done and the luggage in the car.

 Two, leave the house by 10:30 sharp.

 Three, check him in and make sure he has his visa, ticket, ID, and boarding pass. How will we know, he doesn’t have his phone, how will I know he’s alright, that he got through customs, that he found the others. How will I know? She thought.

 Four, Check luggage, I hope it’s not over weight. How will we know?

 Five, walk him to his plane and say goodbye. But how will I do that? Thoughts flying through the worried mothers mind moved faster than she could process them. How can I say goodbye to my baby?

The family finally reached the gate. The moment they have been denying the reality of was finally upon them. It was time to say goodbye. The mother walked forward, gave him a hug and whispered something in his ear through thick tears. One by one, the family took their turns saying their goodbyes, and their ‘I love you’s’. The 18 year old boy looked out of place with the sad family. Wearing a nicely fitting suit and tie, he contrasted with the family’s casual attire, but he was one of them, he had been for the past 18 years. He had grown with them, laughed with them, he’d learned with them. Now it’s time for him to leave them so he could learn to do things on his own.

 Still, everything was still.

 A quiet calm came over the people once they realized the importance of what the boy was about to do. The last to say goodbye was the youngest of the group, the boys little sister. Red faced and tear filled eyes approached the boy and gave her brother her last hug, all too aware that the next time she saw him, she herself would be a different person, approaching adulthood, and changed. The boy reached into his bag and pulled put a freshly sealed envelope, corners a bit bent from the jostling of his bag, but new, crisp, and perfectly white. The middle of the envelope read “Dear Evie”. The girl clung to the envelope knowing this would be the last tangible thing she would have from her brother until they reunited in the same place, two years from now. Bustle and people, noise and distraction were no match for the still the family had created in this moment. They looked around, met each other’s eyes, and without speaking thanked each other for the beautiful 18 years they had together, filled to the brim with fights, yelling, scraped knees, hair pulling, laughing and loving. They said goodbye to their son, brother, and friend watching him walk into the funnel of strangers entering airport security, growing further and further away with each turn on the wheel of his suitcase, until finally he disappeared behind the rumbling conveyer belts and x-ray machines.

 Proudly the boy strode his way to the plane, his tag on the pocket of his suit proudly displaying the words that his life would be centered around for the next 24 months of his life. “Elder Graham, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints.”