Landing

In the dim light I can make out the yellow "livestrong" bracelet the man next to me is wearing.  His knee is bouncing up and down at a rate of about 500 times per minutes and his eyes are closed as he leans back and listens to his ipod.  Behind me I hear the conversation of a nice looking intelligent young man trying to make conversation with the young woman sitting next to him.  She has a very short skirt on and her words are even shorter "um", "kinda" and "sorta".   The conversations fizzles.  I look down on my lap and there lies the sweet head of my daughter.  Her perfect skin, her soft breath.  Her body is curled up on the seat next to me..... not as small as it once was.  I close my eyes and hope for sleep but my senses are suddenly more acute.   I can't seem to block out the sound of the crinkling potato chip bag and the cough of the man sitting in the front.  My knees ache from leaning up against the seat in front of me, my feet are asleep and my eyes are dry.  Then, without notice, a jolt and the wheels are down.  I feel myself exhale.  Home.