Chapter Six
2006
Erica
I sat there in the Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport, waiting for my plane to get here. It had been a long day of goodbyes, and my mom was still blowing up my phone because I refused to let her take me to the airport.
I couldn’t handle her causing a scene because her baby girl was leaving for college and not just to a college nearby, nope, to one that was states away.
I was headed to North Carolina to study at Duke University. I had made it in with a full scholarship to study mathematics and I was taking it. I had lived in Atlanta my whole life, never leaving, but this was now my chance. I was ready to see the world, but I had no desire to really let the world see me.
They didn’t need to. I needed to go to college, see the scenery, and get my degree.
I patted my bag and felt my Canon in it. Photography had become my saving grace as I started Advanced Placement classes in high school. It wasn’t difficult, but the amount of work sometimes drove me crazy. I had reverted to climbing Stone Mountain any chance I could, and the photos that always came from my hikes were ones that even blew me away.
I wouldn’t say I was amazing, but I wasn’t horrible either.
My senior year I took a photography class, and my teacher told me I had a natural eye. He asked if photography was something I would ever pursue, but I told him no. I didn’t want it to become like math for me. I loved it, I was good at it, but the more I did it, the more it became a chore. I never wanted photography to become that.
I looked out the window as another plane went by, but it wasn’t mine.
I was four hours early for my flight. Hey. I hated being late, and for some reason it gave me such anxiety to know there could be lines here or that check-in could take longer than normal, or baggage check was a thing. But of course, it only took twenty minutes to get to my gate, so here I was, just sitting here.
I itched to take my camera out as I people watched, but I had no idea if it would be an invasion of privacy. I played with the zipper on my bag, opening and closing it, as I looked around at people sitting in my immediate area. An older woman sitting by herself with a book in her hand. I dipped my head to see that it was a romance novel, the ones with the old style cheesy covers with a cowboy on it.
I giggled to myself and looked over at a family who had two children running around them as Mom and Dad looked beyond exhausted.
I took my camera out and turned it on, taking off the lens cap, and pointed it toward the family. I took a few quick shots and looked up at where the mom was watching me. I mouthed sorry and she just shook her head and smiled.
The thumbs-up that came from her next surprised me and I continued to click away. I would have to get their information to send them the photos once I edited them. The young girl and boy were running around playing tag behind the suitcases that sat in the aisle of the chairs. Then the little girl crawled under the chairs behind her father’s legs and peeked out, looking directly toward me.
I laughed as I snapped the photo, because soon it wasn’t just them playing tag, but posing for photos and my camera loved the attention as much as they did.
“Flight 456 is now boarding,” a booming voice announced through the speakers. The family gathered their things, but before they walked over to the gate, the mother approached me.
“Could I trouble you for those photos?” the mother asked shyly. Up close I could tell how young she was, probably not much older than me, and I smiled at her, thinking how crazy it must be with two kids and probably not enough time to even get a few photos in during a crazy adventure with flights included.
“I was about to ask you if I could send them to you. I was going to edit them, so that you could print them or whatever you wanted to do.” I sat up and reached for my bag, but the mother stopped me and handed me a piece of paper with a phone number and email on it.
“I would love that.” She looked, relieved, and I took the paper, tucking it into my wallet in my purse. I would be able to get these photos done and to her before I even thought about getting on my flight today. “We’ve never had a chance to do family portraits and I almost always forget to take photos when we are out.”
“Well, I’m glad I pulled out my camera.” I laughed.
“Me too.” She looked over at where her husband was trying to rile together the kids. “I should go before we have a crisis like at the last airport. There were tears and snot everywhere, and that’s probably something you didn’t need to hear.”
She slapped a hand over her face in what seemed like shame.
“Go, you’re good. I’ll have these over to you as soon as I can.”
“You seriously are a lifesaver.”
She waved and walked over to her family with a little more bounce in her step.
If I could make it a little easier on a mom, then I would.
I clicked the screen button on my camera, bringing it back to life after sleep mode, and thumbed through the photos. The kids looked so playful and their parents looked relieved to see their attention elsewhere, even if only for a moment. I knew these photos were going to be good ones and ones that that family would be able to have for a long time.
I left the view photos and brought the camera back up to my face to take a few more photos around the airport. I clicked a few of the woman reading her romance novel. She smiled in a few, knowing I was taking the photos, and I loved how coy she was, even bringing the book up and peeking over, not even the slightest ashamed of reading a romance novel. It fueled me to find a few more people to capture.
