This entry is long, but has some good nuggets of learning within it!
After a remarkable trip, the road home was a long one. Once we made it to the FL airport and re-entered the communication world, we found out that one of Kent's mentors in education had passed away. This family was tied to us in several ways, and we were sad to hear we had missed the service.
Our first flight took us to Atlanta. Where we sat and sat with four delays for our flight home to Sacramento. As the rain began to fall and the lightening lit the airport, our worries began. Would we make it out of Atlanta? The kids were fabulous. We put a movie on for them via the laptop and Kent tried to nap a bit. Karly had Mrs. Shields with her so she was content, and Kyle played a few Madden match-ups to pass the time. We had to buy an extra cell charger as our charger was packed away, thinking we'd have only a few hours of needed use, and not a day. Finally, the gate revealed the bad news--our flight home canceled. In fact, 20 flights in all canceled due to weather difficulties and backups in both Atlanta and Dulles. With a canceled flight also came the panic--Kent was supposed to be back at work 8:00 the next morning for ten Principal interviews. It was now nearing 6:30 p.m. EST and time was of essence. Kent needed a flight. We all needed a flight, but Kent needed it more. While my heart was troubled by the idea of staying in Atlanta without Kent with two kids and no luggage, I knew it was important to him so I tried to stay calm. We spent an hour on the phone with search engines trying to book any flight West for Kent. Reno, LA, Bay Area--anything even if it meant he had to drive. As we worked on the phone the lines for re-booking flights grew and grew. Hundreds, thousands of people standing in line to re-book flights out with only three Delta reps working. Because of all the weather delays, there just were no flights left.
Finally Kent accepted the fact that his first big job with his new position in hiring Principals was going to have to go on without him. We got in line and tried our best to stay calm. Hours passed, the kids were amazing! They did so much better with it all --better than most adults, including us. They played on the airport floor, tucked back in corners and moving every half hour with where we were in line. We have great kids! I remember looking at my watch at 9:40 EST, exhausted and aware that we were still hours from the front of the line thinking--my babies are going to spend the night on the airport floor! It was interesting to watch others as well. I came to the conclusion that many people just wanted their frustration to be heard. People would just stop as they walked to get in line explaining to us their worries, their anger, the why me questions. It wasn't until later in the evening a gal just a few steps ahead of us in line began to cry. Her son was Autistic and panicking at home for his caretaker Mother. Her heart was breaking--she really did need to get home. How small the other complaints became. I stopped to thank God for two healthy kids who were so patient--humbled by this gals pain. On a lighter note, we (those around us in line) began to joke about how much money we could fetch for my fruit bars and smashed power bars at the bottom of my purse. Seriously, thousands of people for hours in line!
Shortly after 10:00 p.m. EST a Delta agent walking about the lines touched base with Kent. Kent explained his need to get home and the man and Kent went for a walk trying to find out the possibilities of getting him on a flight. I waited in line. I believe this man was a God-send. With two sets of parents praying us home and he just "happened" to stop at us. Sometimes I think Kent's height helps us out as well. He stands out and commands attention. Anyways, just after 11:00 we finally had a flight for the next morning. This many found us a flight together and Kent decided it was best to travel with us as a family. We were able to step out of line, something I almost was afraid to do at that point seeing the people behind us and fearing a need to return to the line. We had now been traveling for 15 hours nearly no where. Tired, irritated, and emotionally spent.
We caught the first shuttle we could find to a hotel. Then, another line awaited us. It took 45 minutes to check in. Near midnight there was only one hotel guest service representative. While we said we didn't care what the cost was, the $208 for six hours of sleep was hard to swallow. Plus we had no luggage--just our bodies. We didn't carry much on the plane because we had kid activities, three cameras and a laptop to stow. I choked up when Karly asked for socks for her cold feet--to sleep in. "We have nothing baby--no socks" I said. Ugh! What a disaster of a day!
I'd love to tell you the rest of the story is smooth, but it wasn't. The next morning we rose, and headed for the airport. We figured that an hour and a half was plenty of time pre-flight as we already had our boarding passes. We were wrong. All these people who missed fights, plus the regular flights, were all there that morning. It took forever to weave through the security lines in Atlanta. There were people sleeping everywhere. On planter boxes, chairs, luggage, etc. We ended up running to make our flight--in our yesterday clothes, without breakfast.
Once on the plane there was another drama. Kent kindly gave up his seat to allow for a mother and her two daughters to sit together. The problem was, the flight was one person overbooked and my husband is the one standing without a seat. The attendants were stressing that everyone sit so they could leave the gate, but there was no seat for him to sit. Eventually another man said he would offer up his seat and wait for another flight, Poor Kent with his long legs, ended up in the center seat of the second to last row, while the kids and I were all the way up front for the four hour flight. Interesting enough though, Kyle noticed what Kent did. He said to me, "Daddy did the right thing; he helped that Mommy and her kids". In my exhaustion I just teared up. "You're right Kyle, Daddy did". No one else thanked Kent (not the attendants--they were too busy with getting us off the ground, nor the family Kent helped). But Kyle learned a big lesson--a life lesson from his Daddy and mentor.
We finally made it home about 11:30 the next morning. Kent was showered and dressed within a half-hour and headed to work. Talk about some serious jet lag. It took us a week to get our grounding again and I can't help but think the trauma of getting home had much to do with it.
The trip of a lifetime with the kids, with a nightmare conclusion. Time is great though. Now when we talk about the trip and look at the pictures, no one even mentions the hell of getting home. We'd do it all again tomorrow if we could!
