So January comes around and I began to make preparations for the trip. I was scheduled to depart on the 8th and return on the 27th. I had explained to the landlord that I was going out of the country for a while and that I should return on the 27th. This was my first time ever leaving the United States so I was a little nervous. With the 27th being so close to the first of the month, I asked if I could go ahead and give them two rent checks, one for January, and a second for February. I had asked this in case the return flights got delayed in the event of an unforeseeable occurrence. She was happy to work with me, and accepted the second check, dated for 2-1-2008. She told me she would put it with the other checks she gets early from soldiers. The apartment was practically next door to the Air Force Base, so there were a lot of airmen in the apartments. I don’t think she would have allowed me to “pay in advance” so to speak if she didn’t already do the same thing with military personal that had to leave for a few weeks at a time.
So, I was happy. My ducks were in line. I was ready to board the plane in Norfolk. At this point, I had no idea what to expect. Would I find something to confirm my suspicions? Was he actually doing anything and if so, would he have had enough time to squash it, even if only temporarily. Was he being loyal all along and my gut was giving me inaccurate instincts? Keep in mind; I never accused him of anything. I never mentioned the emails I found. What I was really doing in this trip was to try and put everything that happened in the past behind me. I wanted to look towards a brighter future, with my husband. I wanted him to see what it would actually be like with me so close to him. I wanted him to reap of the benefits of having a wife to come home to with dinner in the oven. I wanted to do the wifely duties of taking care of him. I yearned to be close to him. I was in love with him, despite his flaws that I saw on a day to day basis in emails and phone calls.
Upon landing in Frankfurt, I was exhausted. I had not slept on the plane like I had hoped. With it being an overnight flight and landing in Frankfurt during the mid morning hours local time, I had been awake for close to 18 hours in total. This doesn’t include the 2-3 hour train and bus ride that I had to embark upon in order to get to my final destination. I mention this so that I can share some of the reason as to why I decided to go forward with the divorce upon my return to the states. My husband told me that he would meet me outside of baggage claim and ride with me the rest of the way. As I exited the doors of baggage claim where he was supposed to be waiting, he was nowhere to be found. I waited and looked around in the close proximity for a good half hour before I decided to find a phone. I exchanged some currency, bought a donut so that I could get change to use in the pay phone. I called him. No answer. I tried a second time, again no answer. I thought that maybe there was a delay with the trains so I headed back to baggage claim. I waited for an additional 20 minutes before I went back to the phone to try the call again. No answer. I began to walk around the airport because I was tired and was afraid I’d fall asleep. Having my baggage and being in a foreign country, I wanted to stay alert.
I found the train station that was attached to the airport and assumed that this is where he would arrive. I hung out there for about ten minutes before making my way back to baggage claim. On the way, I found a lost-in-found office. I was frustrated and stressed out. So, in order to try and lighten my mood a little, I walked into the office and declared that I had lost my husband. The poor gentleman behind the counter knew little English and had no idea what I was trying to say. I could tell he was trying to help me in the best way he could. Even though I had no idea what he was saying, I could tell you that he was one of the nicest and sweetest people that I came across in my voyage across the pond. His body language said it all. He got me hooked up with an employee that was American and spoke English in the same fashion as me. Only problem was that she was in an office on the opposite side of me. She actually worked with the American military personnel that came through the airport. This was good I thought! I gave her the number I had for my husband and she told me she would continue to try and contact him. She also told me I could leave my luggage in the office while I went back to baggage claim to search for him.
On the way back to the area we were supposed to meet, he found me. Because of my mental and physical state at this point, I was staring at the floor as I walked. I barely had the strength to walk, yet alone keep my head held high. We embraced and it felt nice to finally be in the presence of a familiar face. I told him we had to go back to the ISO office so that I could get my things and let them know that I found him. He thought of this as humorous. He began to tell me that he had been on this hallway all along, and that surely he would have found me if I was in the area. All lies, I thought. I had been either directly in front of the baggage claim or on the hallway for the majority of the time I was in the airport. I had only left to use the phone and find the train station, and of course, the time I was in the two offices. It couldn’t have been longer than a half hour that I was away. I let it go though. I figured it was better to let it be than to start an argument or make accusations. I asked him where his phone was and why he didn’t answer it when I called. He told me he left it at home and felt he didn’t need it. “You didn’t need it? You should have known that I would find a way to call you if we didn’t find each other in a reasonable amount of time!” I said this in the nicest way possible to him. He apologized and we called it a day.
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