What is Essential?

My carry-on is still traveling around the world somewhere.

The airline host made an error by putting my tag on another person’s bag, and their tag on my bag. But my bag went to wherever they were going and their bag remained in Paris. But they won't know that my bag has their ticket on it and won't collect it. So the mess is that two bags are lost until someone reads my little handwritten tag and calls me.

Nobody knows where my bag is.

Hopefully, my bag will come back one day. In the meantime, the airline company said I could buy what was essential.

I went shopping for essentials.

What is essential?

Essential purchases: A toothbrush? A hairbrush? Underwear? Socks?

The airline company said to check in on Monday.

Three days.

Imagine refugees leaving everything and arriving with nothing.

This has haunted me, especially this last month.

I cannot imagine the depth of sadness, plus the emptiness in a foreign land,

without language or loved ones to lean on. Added to the reality that your homeland is unrecognizable.

My lost carry-on is insignificant.

What is essential? I have that. 
 
Though I did buy the above, plus a change of clothes.



Comments

7 responses to “What is Essential?”

  1. My wise grandmother used to say,”Never let your possessions possess you”.
    You, Corey, know what the real essentials are.
    Still,I hope you are reunited with your belongings.

  2. Nikki Sandulak

    What a great question to ponder..what is essential? My Father’s family left all behind from their home on the steppes of Ukraine in 1912. They embarked on a strange journey on a ship across the Atlantic ..praying for a better life in an unknown country. A great immigration with the background history known to them alone. I know little of the story, other than a clipping from a Christmas cactus also made the crossing with them. The original plant was divided and shared many times in the past 110 years and lives on in the homes of the family who cherish it.. still thriving in Canada 🇨🇦 to this day.

  3. Susan in Zurich

    I thank Nikki, above, for sharing the comment about family members, their move away from Ukraine in 1912. By the way, I love Christmas Cactus!
    Essentials vary for each of us. If leaving in a hurry, I’d grab the bible my brother gave me, when I was a teen, a photo of my mom and dad, my grandma’s journal, and probably a quilt.
    Daily life essentials? Items on your list for sure, plus lipstick and sunscreen 🙂
    Hoping your bag returns, Corey – it could happen 🙏

  4. I hope your bag is returned in good order.
    Your words are profound and always leave me to think of them long after I have read them.
    My Grandmother and her family left Hungary to come to Canada many years ago on a ship across the Atlantic off to a brave new land as you once did Corey beginning a new life in France.
    Ships in the harbors are safe but that is not what ships are for.
    God bless all the people who begin a brand new life, many without a choice.
    Love Jeanne

  5. Thank you for your thought provoking and compassionate comments! I hope you luggage returns to you safely!

  6. Leaving everything behind … not to mention the anxiety and despair over family members left in the fight back home. I can hardly imagine.
    Also, re leaving everything behind, there is a song that rips my heart open every time I hear it. It’s reminded me of how so many left their “old country” and family to come to North America, and never saw them again. If you can find it, it’s called “Kilkenny.” Oh here’s a link to it: https://youtu.be/QRHQAtKbRTk
    -Kate

  7. Yes, as I have looked at the refugees and what they carried I have had similar thoughts. What would be essential to carry in exile? Like you, a toothbrush can easily be replaced. Memories travel with them, but what would I toss in one small backpack? I have thought of packing a family picture or two and maybe a treasure too. My heart has been with each refugee no matter where they have traveled from.

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