No more chairoplanes in Berlin?
Is Luisa losing her best friend again? This time in misery and doubt?
Luisa always loved to travel the world. Especially to cities that were smaller, less dirty, less noisy than L.A. For quite some time now she didn’t enjoy La La Land anymore as much as it was an exotic paradise for her, when she arrived from her native Germany in the early 90s.
So, she always put that little money aside that was not eaten by the regular bills at month’s end and during the Christmas holiday break she scoured the web for off-season deals on city trips and tours.
She had never made it back to Berlin though. With family mostly living overseas there was never really a burning need, but lately she grew more wistful. The older she got, the more she dug up memories and emotions that made her miss her home town.
And then there was this message by a school comrade that read:
“Lu, I know you haven’t been back in all those years, decades even, but Sylvia isn’t doing very well at all and she still misses you so, so much. I think it would mean the world to her if you could come visit.”
So there were all those memories that popped back up from the teenage years that she shared with her best friend Sylvia. In fact, the two were indivisible, equally crazy and wild at heart back then. Especially at the fun fair carousels and chairoplanes at Plänterwald or Herbstmesse.
Right after the Berlin Wall came down however, she took a chance to move overseas. She settled on the U.S. West Coast and never met Sylvia again. They kept up an infrequent penpalship of sorts and got in touch online in the 90s. But it was no consolation.
Then, there was a life to build, plus a new culture and language to acquaint to. So, over time the distance grew bigger and there was a whole world to discover. The years went by in a hurry but now she would finally miss her home town again. In fact, quite a bit already.
And now, that message about Sylvia. It made her really, really want to go.
But she couldn’t - not right now, not soon anyway.
This was the worst time for an unplanned expense.
Her last job change had taken way too long and had burned into her savings. To make matters worse, during probationary period at the new place, she’d make a lot less and this would further strain the budget for quite a while. Her home loan equity was maxed out after it took a hit during the financial crisis.
During the past several months she claimed to be busy when colleagues asked her to join them at restaurants after work. She even dropped the gym membership and theater ticket subscription.
Now Luisa was not only frustrated and sad, she also felt guilt. She was not able to be there for her friend Sylvia when it mattered most!
As if she had not felt like a sore loser already about the financial ditch she had maneuvered herself into.
A horizon so far?
When Sylvia called after a lengthy online chat, Luisa knew about her friend’s loss of both parents, that it happened within a week and also that Sylvia actually gained a lot of energy and hope from their conversation right there and then.
As Luisa talked about her guilt and sadness that she wasn’t able to support her, hug her and comfort her right now, Sylvia brushed off that trail and offered an idea, an option that could change things in no small ways.
“You know, I did some shopping around last night and I found that flight deal round trip non-stop that is really affordable and I decided to gift it to you. I really want you to visit and I feel so close to you again. Besides, my parents left me a couple of grand and it won’t break the bank for me.”
Luisa was baffled and didn’t know what to say. Other than offering to pay it back or better even, pay for a trip to L.A. as soon as Sylvia had wrapped up things after her parent’s passing and Luisa would have recovered financially.
“Sounds like a plan, but this time you’ll come over to Berlin. Right next week, is that possible?”
A wave of emotions overwhelmed Luisa and also Sylvia. After a good ten minutes in tears about their new found friendship and Sylvia’s mom and dad, they started to make plans around her stay with museum bundles and Berlin city tours and plenty of local trips down memory lane. Including that long missed chairoplane ride.
As if she’d never left
The moment they fell into each others arms at BER Airport the years between the 90s and today had just vanished. Although sadness was drawn onto Silvia’s face, the giggling, the night time talks, the clownery at the fair ground and the memories at the chairoplane - all of it felt as if they never parted. Never ever.
They even marched into their former school together and cheekily sat crosslegged in the schoolyard again.
After a week of talks, hugs, giggles and seeing old friends in new pubs, it was time to say ‘Goodbye’ again.
But not in sadness, there was no tearful farewell or grumpy silence in the car to the airport.
When Luisa sat down at the gate her heart jumped when she opened Silvia’s text message:
“You are my chairoplane Luisa!”
Are you missing someone truly dearly?
Don’t wait!
Airplane trip, sunset at Newark International Airport
