So sorry for the late posting but had to go to the vampires for blood. All ok now and folks, indeed take heart, there are good people out there. Strangers who simply do good for others in need without thought of benefit or recompense. I know because we came across a whole bunch of these wonderfully helpful and caring people yesterday.
We began a day's worth of travel what with a connecting flight, were prepared with food, lest we get stuck somewhere as what happened several months ago and set out. Our daughter was great, walking us to the check-in and bag drop and thank the Lord for her insistence as the parking lot to the counter was huge!!! And the bags were many and heavy! As an aside I do not quite understand how our luggage gets even tighter and heavier on the way back after we delivered all that we had packed for whichever child it was. One of the imponderables of life! Could be worse.
With priority we skipped the line, the TSA was empty and there was Clear anyway, and off to the gate, plenty of time to settle down with the paper. Uh-oh! Gerry returns with water but no NYT! Then we were taken down the ramp and there we stood - no power on the plane. 20 minutes later we were backing up, to find out that there was a short or a circuit breaker blew, whatever. We had to wait, for when, if when - one of the imponderables as well. My wheelchair person was terrific, stood there with patience and did not want to leave until the whole issue was settled, just in case we had to go elsewhere.
In the meanwhile, I needed to change clothing as the pants were uncomfortable. Well, that was a challenge as there were no family bathrooms, so I had to do it alone, in a stall, and yup, no handicapped one with bars to steady me. Well, it took a long time, and when Gerry came to check on me, a lovely woman volunteered to find me and check. She did, and not only that, when I was about to finally retie my shoes, she said not to worry, for she would do it for me. Blessings on her head.
Uh-oh, a long delay, over an hour and even then .... And there it was, the elephant in the room - our to be missed connecting flight. It was in Atlanta, the biggest airport I have ever seen, with gates often literally miles away, via walking, escalators, more walking, elevators, more walking and pant! pant! you were there. Aha! A piece of luck. The pilot must have taken a short cut in the sky, or passed the speeding limit, for we reached Atlanta with 15 minutes to spare. Next luck, the gate was 11 gates away, a looong walk in the huge airport, but this woman was unbelievable. "Oh, no," she said. " We are getting you home; You are making that plane." And off she ran, yes, ran, and I could not believe it. We passed by others from the plane also making their way hurriedly to the connecting flight. And we made it!!!!! More than that. the people at the gate actually stood aside, no argument or grumbles, and allowed the wheelchair through! Wow!!
Final miracle of the day -our luggage actually came with us, not being held for the 8 PM fight on which we had been rebooked. And they came off the plane as well! Surely, a day of miracles. Three lovely women, an alert luggage handler with compassion, an accommodating pilot and cabin crew, and not to forget the man who chased me down to hand me my mask which had fallen out of my pocket.
Yes, folks there are good people out there and no questions of qualification were asked. No one cared what political party one belonged to or religion or color of skin, or any other trait. It was simply a stranger, many strangers, helping another. May these people live good lives, and may their honest goodness be repaid a hundredfold.
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