Last year, in late January, I got married. This year, I spent the day alone.
We’d been working on getting a visa for months, bogged down by bureaucracy, unexpected challenges, and moving goal posts. The embassy took my passport in September, and by January, the uncertainty of when I would be able to travel out of the country again was unbearable.
While in agonizing limbo, my friend re-shared Oh, the Places You’ll Go! by Dr. Seuss. I thought I knew it pretty well: it’s a celebratory gift to many graduates, lauding all the adventures they’ll have and the wide horizons of endless possibility.
I’d forgotten, though, about The Waiting Place.
The Waiting Place…
…for people just waiting.
Waiting for a train to go
or a bus to come, or a plane to go
or the mail to come, or the rain to go
or the phone to ring, or the snow to snow
or the waiting around for a Yes or No
or waiting for their hair to grow.
Everyone is just waiting.Waiting for the fish to bite
or waiting for the wind to fly a kite
or waiting around for Friday night
or waiting, perhaps, for their Uncle Jake
or a pot to boil, or a Better Break
or a string of pearls, or a pair of pants
or a wig with curls, or Another Chance.
Everyone is just waiting.
Somewhere in my personal waiting place, I came across a crucial reminder that, no matter how dark or difficult or heartbreaking or lonely this moment is, humans across the globe — throughout all of time — have been through it, too, and there is a piece of poetry or art or music that echoes that pain.
No matter how isolated or powerless you may feel, you are not alone. And, because life is the way it is and change is inevitable, these valleys will not last forever.
Somehow you’ll escape
all that waiting and staying
You’ll find the bright places
where Boom Bands are playing.
Somehow, we did escape all that waiting. I am writing from Germany — the visa was approved just a little over a week ago. I picked it up the morning of our anniversary.