Thanksgiving, Part One - Getting There is half the fun?

Before beginning this entry, I glanced back at my list of posts, and realized I haven’t blogged in over a month. What? That can’t be right! With all of the thoughts that fly through my head on a daily basis, how is it I haven’t written them down in 34 days??? But then again, it’s been a hectic time. Ye old blog counter does not lie, my friends. All we can do is move on from here, am I right? And so, that said, I am setting out to make up for lost time. By the time I’m done, you’ll all be sick to death of me and my bloggy blather. I promise… ;)

How’s everybody doing? Did you have Happy Thanksgivings? Are you enjoying your holiday preparations? Are you enjoying quiet nights in front of your fireplaces, sipping wine, gazing at twinkle lights? Or are you running around like headless barn fowl? Either way, (and it’s probably a bit of both) I wanted to share some of what Todd and I experienced over our own Thanksgiving weekend. This is considered Part One: 

A while back, Todd envisioned us driving to Connecticut to celebrate the holiday with Megan and Joe. He thought we could share the ride with Tony and Lesleigh, split up the driving, and have a nice weekend together – the six of us. But when it became revealed that the kids were moving to Nashville, Todd revised his travel ideas, fast forwarding to Plan B – Flight. After he made the plans I got so excited. We hadn’t seen Megan and Joe since April, when they came into town for a brief four-day weekend. Plus, flying would get us there in two shakes, leaving more time for our familial chitter chatter.

Todd booked us a flight that would leave Milwaukee on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m., head through Detroit with only a one-hour delay as we changed planes, and arrive at LaGuardia at 11:30. Then we would catch a shuttle to a rental car and be on our way up to Connecticut. Yes, we’d arrive at Megan’s in the wee hours of the morning, BUT it would also leave four full days of time with the kids.

Plans progressed nicely until the weather started to change – and I’m not talking about the weather in Milwaukee. It all started to swirl down in Texas. Then it started to move its way east. Then it started to move its way north. Before we knew it, there were flight delays across half of the country – no lie. And of course you know that the weather reporters had a field day with this. Here it was, Monday of Thanksgiving week, people traveling via all modes of transportation, and the media had a weather situation to talk about. They showed piles of snow in some states, cars flipped into ditches, freezing rain in other areas, vehicles sliding sideways into other cars… (sigh) I must admit my blood pressure began to rise. I think the elements can be rather scary!

Look, I know I have no control over the weather, and I know that Todd and I were only two of the “millions” that would be affected by whatever was coming.  I found that I had to stop watching the news reports because they only served to rev up my mood into an extremely negative place. Because, you see, I hadn’t seen my daughter in seven months, so I really just wanted/needed to get there, and deal with ‘whatever’ another day (sort of a denial, fiddle-dee-dee thing). In my mind, this had to work out, you know?

Of course Todd, Mr. Practical, was wielding his “It is what it is” philosophy, and of course he was right. It simply came down to this… either we’d fly or we wouldn’t. The airlines and other powers-that-be would decide. So I did what I could – I prayed about the situation. I asked God for safe travel for everyone over the highly-traveled holiday weekend. I asked that somehow things fall into place so that Todd and I could still get to see Megan and Joe. I acknowledged that if we had to be delayed, that I’d try to find the good in it, and would rather be late than not arrive at all. Then, after praying, I went out on a limb and asked my Facebook friends to pray for safe travel for everyone too. More than 60 of you responded – talk about a prayer chain!

Up until 4 p.m., our flight was still on time, so we drove to the airport to see what our night might hold. As soon as we got there we saw that our Detroit connection had a 90-minute delay. Since we only had an hour lay-over, this could be a problem.

Crazy as this seems, J  I saw there was a direct flight, leaving Milwaukee at 6 and arriving at LaGuardia at 9:30. “Did you know there was a direct flight?” I asked Todd. 

“Hmmm, no, I didn’t see it when I booked the flights, or I’d have taken it,” he said.

“I know it’s a long shot, but let’s see if it’s full – maybe we could still get on,” I suggested.

Of course our gate was as far as it physically could be – seriously – it was the last gate at the Milwaukee airport. I set down my “stuff” and said to the woman at the desk, “Hey, I’m sure that your direct flight to LaGuardia is probably booked solid, but you wouldn’t happen to have two seats would you? We’re supposed to go through Detroit, and…”

She cut me off. “What’s your name?”  I told her and she said, “You’re already ON the direct flight. It leaves in 40 minutes. Be ready to board in 20.”

WHAT??? I couldn’t believe my ears. Delta (or something) must have seen the delay, recognized the problem, and thought ahead enough to ease traveler’s dilemmas. Long story short, Todd and I left Milwaukee on time, and got to our destination two hours earlier than originally planned. Though the NY airport was hectic, the temperatures were still in the 40’s, so the rain that fell was not of the freezing variety. We secured our rental car, Todd programmed the GPS (which is a whole ‘nother story – man those things are something else, aren’t they?) and headed north to New Milford, CT.

The kids waited up for us, and we were able to have a nice little reunion before heading to bed.

I wanted to publicly share this story because I know that many of you actually did pray for safe travel that weekend – and our’s was a story with a positive outcome. I truly believe that Todd and I were direct recipients of an answer.

I felt blessed...

Katie Kolberg Memmel is the author of "Five Fingers, Ten Toes - A Mother's Story of Raising a Child Born with a Limb Difference." For more information, go to her website at: www.katiekolbergmemmel.com