Skip to main content

Up, Up and Away . . .





One of my favorite memories of growing up was when my sister Kelli and I got to fly, by ourselves, from our home in Milwaukee to visit our grandparents in Champaign Illinois. We were dressed similarly - in matching suits of different colors. I believe we were 9 and 8 and so proud that our parents were letting us on this big adventure. It also meant changing planes at O'Hare airport! We were instructed on how to get help looking for our gate and reminded just how large O'Hare was. We felt grown up!

Our father travelled a lot for business, so he gave us valuable information about that monstrous airport (that it had seven 'fingers' was one tidbit I still remember - he was referring to the terminals). It shouldn't have surprised either Kelli or I that upon landing, our Dad would just happen to be at O'Hare too. He claimed that he too was there to change flights and since we had a little bit of time, wouldn't it be great to have lunch together. So the three of us went to the Admiral's Club and then he escorted us to our gate for the rest of the journey to Champaign.

I had a chance to think about that trip (and others of my youth) when John and I had a layover at O'Hare this past weekend. It's way more monstrous and flying is a way different experience! My memories of 'airline' travel may be colored a bit by time and nostalgia, but it used to be a first rate way to travel. You were treated respectfully by the flight crews, served beverages and even full meals if the flight was longer than a couple hours. On shorter flights, you were served a snack and beverages. Since my Dad was a frequent traveler he had a membership in the Admiral's Club - a place where you could go to relax and be served more beverages and snacks and sit in a comfortable and quieter atmosphere.

Well, those days are long gone - they've gone up, up and away!

The overall impression is being herded like cattle - from the lines at the ticket counters, to the TSA checkpoints, to the waiting areas, to the overcrowded dining or shopping options, to the plane, off the plane, through baggage claim and onto the taxi queues. All the while fellow travelers can almost be heard, voicing "Mooooooooo-ve out of my way!"

I won't go into the details of the debacle - suffice it to say we were supposed to arrive in Grand Rapids at 11:30 a.m. and arrived instead at 3:30 a.m. 


I'm sure some of the chaos of airline travel is that there are so many people flying these days -  there are a lot of deals out there and people are finding ways to afford the trips. Airlines are trying to maximize their profits (or even make one) so they are filling planes often over capacity to make it cost effective. And those seats just seem to get closer together - and I don't even have long legs!


So this year for spring break, we're not flying. Or even driving. I'm going to see  if train travel has lost it's luster too!

Comments

  1. gretchenMarch 11, 2011 at 2:50 PM

    Kathleen, I love your story about your Dad and you an Kelli at the airport! What a great experience for an 8 year old! Thanks for sharing this! And great to "see" you and Kelli!
    Gretchen

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

It's not a popularity contest, but ...

Don't cry for me ...

Song lyrics or titles run through my mind to often sum up a situation or add humor to one. Today, it's "Don't Cry for Me Argentina". Only today the title is "Don't cry for me anybody"! I mean, I get it, that people feel bad that I've got breast cancer and that I've been living with MS for nearly 27 years. And I've had other issues that I've blogged about related to #metoo. I get that it seems like a lot looking in from the outside. I hear your comments and appreciate your support. But here's the thing, it doesn't feel overwhelming to me, looking out from the inside. Know what I mean? I live the life that I've been dealt and do it with the personality and faith I've been given. Which means, I could do one of the following: A. Have a miserable, pity-me attitude that would lead to being  miserable; B. Lean into my troubles and seek answers constantly either through research or angrily with God, which would lea...
1 comment
Read more

Navigating the world while four-wheeling

Rain, rain, go away. Don't come back another day. My hair is frizzy. Barometric pressure makes me dizzy. If I go out, wet I'll be. No umbrella hand free to protect me. I'm no Longfellow! And I don't think I'd win a poetry slam, but you get the idea. Rainy days, even when they're not Mondays, get me down. Because when you're navigating the world while four-wheeling, rain presents additional challenges. Last week, for example, the wind was blowing hard enough to blow my wheelchair seat cushion off my car where I'd placed it while removing my chair. It landed in a puddle, upside down, and rested there long enough that the absorbent material in the comfy cushion absorbed quite a bit of water. I may have let an expletive fly, because a store clerk who was standing up against the window under the protective eave, smoking a cigarette and looking at her phone, actually looked up. She didn't come to my aid, but she looked up. Thankful...
Post a Comment
Read more

Silenced

In April of 2010, I witnessed firsthand the pain and sorrow that comes with losing your voice. John had been in treatment for throat cancer for about a month and the radiation treatment burned his mouth and throat gradually making it more and more painful to talk. As we'd been married for 22 years, we could could communicate most things by gestures and looks (all you long-married couples know what I'm talking about!). But on Easter Sunday, when the congregation stood and began to sing     , John was silent. I sang the first verse along with the congregation, but the knowledge of why John was not singing, that he was silenced, hit me like a tsunami and I began to struggle to hold back the tears on what was supposed to be a joyful Christian celebration. Cancer had rendered by husband's voice mute. Since November, I too have been struggling to find my voice. My written voice. The sometimes funny, sometimes insightful, almost-always positive voice that I've used in thi...
Post a Comment
Read more