HAVE YOU CONSIDERED ...
Not ashamed to show emotions
Dr. French O'Shields

(Dr. French O'Shields is a Gaffney native and a retired Presbyterian minister.)

It was dusk and I noticed the outside lights begin to turn on. I reached into my briefcase and took out a book. Reading would help pass the hour I had between flights at the airport in Louisville, Kent. It would be a nice quiet time to read for there were only two others in the gate waiting room.

I had read only several pages when a group of about 25 people entered. They congregated in one end of the room, some seated, some standing talking in small groups and others milling from one to another.

This group captivated my attention. It required little imagination to figure out this scenario. They were all one family with several generations represented from the elderly to a babe in arms. They had all come to see someone off, but it was not until later that I knew who was leaving. The hum of conversation was occasionally interrupted by loud weeping as everyone went over to hug and kiss a woman, appearing to be around 30 years old, and two children, probably 7 and 9.

Again they would mingle talking with each other, but soon the weeping, hugging and kissing would begin anew as they spontaneously moved toward the woman and two children. This continued for the entire hour.

I was deeply moved but also puzzled. To what far off place could this mother and children be going? Africa? Europe? Some distant place in the Far East? And how long would they be gone? With such a farewell as this, surely they were facing years of separation.

I was so obsorbed in observing and empathizing with this family only the voice on the loud speaker made me realize my flight was loading.

Picking up my briefcase, I put my coat over my arm and started toward the door. My curiosity was still soaring. On the way to the door I walked through part of the family, approached a teenage girl and asked, "Where are your relatives going?"

"All the way to North Carolina, and for three whole months!" she answered brokenly through her sobs.

Her answer shocked me. On the inside I was smiling from relief, but on the outside I dared not. The answer made me more impressed. To this family, separation was not a matter of distance or time, it was a matter of the heart.

I remember another airport scene as a young soldier said goodbye to his wife as he left for overseas. Grown men who watched brushed a tear from their eyes.

There is also the joy of airport reunions. In Mexico City I entered the lobby from the arrival gates and will not forget what I saw. The crowded area was high with excitement as Mexicans were reunited with loved ones with uninhibited expressions of emotion, so typical of the Latin Americans. In Florida I saw tears of joy flow down the faces of grandparents as grandchildren ran into their outstretched arms.

Some people don't like to wait in airports. I don't mind at all. It is one of the few places left where people aren't ashamed to show their emotions.

In a world where any display of emotion is looked upon as a sign of weakness, to be human is seen as a sign of ignorance, to be genuine is considered a lack of sophistication, and warmth a lack of nobility - the display of emotions is indeed refreshing.