When the 500 plus passengers began shuffling toward the exits of the 747 jumbo jet I realized I would be one of the last folks off the plane due to my assigned seat in the rear. In reality, the disembarkation was relatively smooth and speedy, probably because most on the plane were anxious to get to wherever it was they were going. Knowing that screening through Australian immigration and then customs officers lay ahead I figured there was no point in rushing to get into one lineup and then another. I passed through immigration with hardly a glance by the officer after standing on line for what seemed an interminable amount of time trying to dodge the coughs and sneezes of the folks that had been breathing the stale air of a flying bus for too long a time. Then, it was on to another seemingly endless parade behind what looked to me like thousands of people with more than their fair share of luggage, stacked to the limits of the little silver carts provided by the airport for just this purpose. I saw my opportunity when a security person opened a new pathway to the customs officers and with just my rolling suitcase and carryon I was able to outmaneuver most of the waiting throng. In only a few minutes, I was selected by one of the customs officers to approach area "B" for my review. This area of the customs examination room had the shortest line by 90% and most in the staging line had a limited amount of baggage much like myself. They took us 8 at a time and had us stand behind our luggage in single file, shoulder to shoulder. A female customs officer with a beagle on a generous leash then made a relatively quick pass with the canine freely climbing over and around all the aligned bags. The customs officer quickly ascertained that nothing of interest to the dog was among any of our belongings so they ushered us into what I quickly recognized was the public lobby for meeting incoming international passengers. I'd been here many time before.
As I scanned the crowd for a familiar face I recognized Marguerite Stanley (Mag), Robin's sister, staring pensively at the crowd. Our glances merged and we started moving toward each other. When we were close enough to touch she started to speak so quickly in her thick Aussie accent that I couldn't make out the words. I grabbed her shoulders and looked into her eyes "I know" I said with conviction and relieved her of the responsibility to utter words that any human being should never have to say to a father about his son. She started to sob and grabbed my hand and pulled me toward the car park. "We're going to Rob's; everyone is there; Luke is on his way; Vicky and Tina are coming later" were among the rat tat tat statements in her stream of consciousness communication. She then became a little disoriented in the car park as she was trying to explain the events of the last days and I finally suggested that we find the car and get out of the airport before we discuss any more details. She agreed but not before uttering "Robin is so frightened that you are going to be angry with her". Why would she think I would be angry with her? She was the mother any son would have dreamed of having. She only wanted and did the best for her 2 children without the day to day support of a husband for the last 15 years. She guarded her children like a lioness would her pride. Robin would have gone to hell and back for those children.
"She's worried that maybe you'll think she didn't do enough; that there were other things she could have done". For the first time since I received the call that triggered these events for me I felt overwhelmed by the raw emotion of it all. Until that moment I had been a man on a mission but now that I had arrived at my destination I realized there was no battle to fight, no game to win, no enemy to defeat. Of course, I told Mag that it was crazy for Robin to feel that way; that I would never think that of her. Then Mag began to fill me in on the details of what took place in Geoff's last days.
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