We had the great priviledge of attending the beautiful wedding of our very good friends in San Diego last week. It was just a fabulous trip! We were all kind of sad as we headed home from sunny San Diego to our home in South Carolina, but were happy to be flying with some friends from here in Greenville. They are both so much fun, and my kids love them! As soon as we get to the airport we find out that the airplane is delayed by an hour, not a good sign. Then we see notification that the airplane is delayed yet another hour. So we sit around, eat our extremely overpriced airport food and wait it out. Finally we get on the plane and are told we are cleared for immediate take off… oh wait… no we aren’t cleared, it is now time to de-plane for a possible 4 hour delay. So annoying!
Relaxed kids before their day long ordeal.
An hour later we finally leave San Diego and head to Atlanta. Wouldn’t you know it? We are delayed again for what turns into 3 hours. As we arrive in Charlotte at 4am we are exhausted, ready to get our bags, and head home. My friend says “the next problem is they will have lost our luggage,” I told her not to even say it! Of course the bags were lost, and we added more drama to our ridiculous day. As we sit down to wait in the line of 30 people to file a claim I decide to go upstairs and find something to drink; luckily there is a lone Starbucks still open. I ordered a coffee for my husband, a couple of waters, and two chocolate milks for my boys. As I come downstairs, my kids are so excited, and quickly take a sip. Much to everyone’s surprise my 3 year old starts screaming, yep, they gave me hot chocolate instead of chocolate milk. So I had needlessly caused our only meltdown of the day, and really it wasn’t a meltdown it was simply a reaction to my purchase.
As we sat, we saw people coming in for their 6am flights. I could not believe I had travelled from 11:am Pacific Time and arrived in Charlotte at 4am Eastern time, with an hour and a half drive home to look forward to. I am so thankful someone else was driving the boys and I home.
Micah and I after I gave him scalding hot chocolate...Mom of the Year.
Towards the end of this completely awful travel experience my friend says “keri, you are going to have a LONG blog post about this.” As I looked around I said “About what? What have I learned from this horrible day?” I was serious but then it made me think, what was there to learn? What comfort could I say to my kids or the people sleeping on the floor of the airport? Then it hit me; I’m not in Haiti.
Gratitude
I’m profoundly grateful for the country I am able to call home. It is truly a wonderful place to be, it is a blessing. When I walk through an airport full of people who have had a hard day it’s easy to feel low but when you compare our experience to that of the Haitians it’s not even in the same realm. Even people on the floor sleeping had a safe, climate controlled area to rest, clean (well …airport clean) bathrooms, water fountains and restaurants. Most had a piece of luggage with them or at least a jacket they could use as a pseudo pillow.
As I pondered how many Haitians were spending the evening, without family, without shelter or food, It produced a deep gratitude for the blessings I was still enjoying in my bad experience. Not to mention the fact that I was able to go to California for a beautiful wedding, which far outweighed the trip home. I would glady have gone through the airport experience again to be with our friends in San Diego.
Our family at the wedding overlooking the Pacific. Incredible.
So at the end of the long night and morning, I was thankful to be in the airport safe and sound, and that was a good place to be. It was a unexpected reminder to be thankful for what I have no matter the circumstance.
**Don’t forget to enter my book giveaway. All you have to do is share something you are thankful for either on the facebook page or on this blog post. **
