The Rerouted Skytress is celebrating it’s third anniversary! Thankfully, there is flour in the grocery store to make a cake to celebrate. Three years ago, this wasn’t the case. Heck. Three years ago, it was mentality challenging just to walk into the grocery store. Egads! I don’t miss those days. I’ll admit. I do miss the days of lounging around the house watching the Cowboy and Hallmark Channels. Yes. I still watch those channels. However, I’m not lounging around the house like I did back then. Yessiree. I actually have to go to work to get a paycheck these days. More importantly, I have to go to work to get stories for The Rerouted Skytress blog. Fortunately, I have a wonderful trip to write about this week. It’s a trip that starts with the Rerouted Skytress wishing she got rerouted. Thankfully, I didn’t. Because, I had a phenomenal trip.

I was looking forward to my long Nashville layover from the day our monthly bid results came out. Unfortunately, my Nashville friends weren’t able to get together on my layover. Still, I knew I would have a marvelous time in Nashville. Heck. It’s Nashville! Incredibly, 45 minutes outside of landing, I was starting to pray we would land anywhere besides Nashville. You see, Mother Nature was extremely mad that night. She was producing nasty storms all across the Midwest. We dealt with rough air from Atlanta to Seattle. The rough air increased as we flew from Seattle to Nashville. As we approach Nashville from the East, …yes, you read this correctly,…we were no longer bumping along with the rough weather. No siree. We were now swishing and swaying with the incredible crosswinds. It was an extremely unsettling feeling. I’ll admit. I have never prayed so much on an approach in my career. The Captain had informed the crew earlier that we were going to fly between two storm systems on our approach into Nashville. He, also, informed us we had alternate cities available for a diversion. The longer I held on to the slide bustle in the back of the Boeing 737-900 to steady myself from the crosswinds jostling us about, the more I wished we would divert to one of those cities. Heck. I could always go back to Nashville for a long layover. I was mentally counting the minutes until we landed. I was confident our pilots would execute the perfect landing. It was just excruciating getting to that point. When we touched down in Nashville the passengers applauded. I would have applauded too. Only, I was busy saying prayers of thanks to God.

It was after 1am when we arrived at the ground transportation area. Our scheduled shuttle driver wasn’t there. The First Officer was watching the shuttle driver driving further away from the airport on the shuttle app. Fortunately, our Captain made the quick decision to pay for a cab to take us to the hotel. Despite the fact I had been up over 24 hours, I couldn’t fall asleep when I got to my hotel room. However, I wasn’t going to let the lack of sleep keep me from wandering around Nashville on my layover. Heck. It was Nashville! My new Skytress friend, Angela, and I met in the hotel lobby at noon. Angela was as excited as I was to explore Nashville. Fortunately, it was an incredibly beautiful Saturday. The storms had given way to sunshine and gusty winds. Unlike the crosswinds we experienced on our approach into Nashville, these winds felt delightfully exhilarating.

Skytress Angela and I had barely left the hotel when I noticed a couple wearing St. Louis Blues hockey shirts. I was about to say something when I noticed more people walking about with Blues paraphernalia on. It suddenly dawned on me the Blues were playing the Nashville Predators at the Bridgestone Arena. I felt a little guilty I was in town and not going to the game to root for my Blues. The guilt disappeared when I saw the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. I couldn’t help myself. I smiled ridiculously when I saw the building. Yes. I may listen to Canadian country music these days. However, my favorite country artists are enshrined in the Country Music Hall of Fame. Skytress Angela and I decided to keep walking over to Broadway. Broadway is is where the notorious Nashville bars and restaurants are located. It’s, also, where the party buses and pedal pushing bars frequent. I’ll admit. I saw more twerking on party buses in a three block radius than I have witnessed my entire life.

Skytress Angela and I walked with the throngs of people down Broadway. We eventually decided to break off from the legions of people and turned down a side street. Skytress Angela immediately saw the sign for the Johnny Cash Museum. I immediately saw the sign for the Goo Goo Cluster Candy Store. Since the candy store didn’t have an admission fee, we decided to check it out instead of the museum. After all, it’s a Nashville institution. Just like Johnny Cash. The store’s crisp red and white interior was invigorating. This, coupled with a store filled of chocolate, made both of us giddy. Shall I say it? Yes. I shall…We were definitely two kids in a candy store! We happily checked out all the Goo Goo Cluster items in the store. We could have designed personalized chocolate bars on the touch screen kiosk. Then we could have watched the chocolatiers make our custom designed chocolate bars on the opposite side of the store. Ultimately, Skytress Angela decided to buy a beautifully designed chocolate bonbon. I opted to purchase two boxes of classic Goo Goo Cluster chocolates for Easter. Yessiree. I did not regret my decision in the least.

I had decided when my Nashville friends couldn’t get together that I was going to visit the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. I wanted to go inside the Hall of Fame when we walked by it earlier in the day. However, Skytress Angela had mentioned when we met in the hotel lobby that she wasn’t sure she wanted to pay the admission price for any of the museums in Nashville. When we left the candy store I decided I was going to go back to the museum….and I was taking Skytress Angela with me. I told Angela I was going to treat her to the museum. Heck. Skytress Angela had only been flying for two months. We needed to create some lasting layover memories for her. Plus, I wanted to properly welcome her to our crazy airline family.

I love all genres of music. However, country music truly speaks to my heart. You may remember my post about my neighborhood where I get to pick my neighbors. Dolly Parton, Reba McEntire, Trisha Yearwood and Garth Brooks were some of my closest neighbors. I was tickled to see my neighbors and my other country favorites proudly represented at the Country Music Hall of Fame. I was fascinated by the artifacts on exhibit. Many displays evoked a memory from my past. Some country artist names I hadn’t thought about in years. Some older names I didn’t know. Still I knew they played an essential part for my love of country music. I marveled at the colorful outfits, boots and instruments in the glass display cases. I was shocked my reaction to Elvis Presley’s gold-plated Cadillac was so nonchalant. Then again, I had just gawked at Webb Pierce’s Pontiac Bonneville Convertible moments before. The customized Nudie Mobile complete with its revolver car handles, silver shotgun on the trunk and miniature saddle insert in the front seat had set the Country star car gold-standard for me. Speaking of gold. The gold records hanging from the multiple walls in the museum was utterly impressive. My only regret was I didn’t have time to read all the information that accompanied the displays. Oh, well. This just means I will gladly have to visit the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum again!

Skytress Angela and I left the museum just as the hockey game ended. The streets were overflowing with people. We walked down Broadway to find a place to eat. Our efforts were futile. People were waiting in long lines to enter every restaurant and bar on Broadway. Music flowed from each establishment we passed by. I couldn’t fathom how one band or singer could ever become famous in a city that just oozes with talent. Whenever we passed an open restaurant window and I saw a drummer enthusiastically beating on his drums, I thought of Ron. Ron was an exceptionally talented drummer. Needless to say, Ron loved laying over in Nashville because of the tremendously talented musicians. Ultimately, Skytress Angela and I decided our best bet was to leave Broadway and head to side streets to find a less crowded restaurant. We decided to eat at a restaurant down the street from our hotel. Of course, we both ordered the Nashville chicken. It would have been a sin if we didn’t. The Nashville chicken was scrumptious. We finished our meal just in time to meet up with the rest of our crew back at the hotel. The hotel had a complimentary happy hour and dinner fare. The Captain and First Officer were already waiting when we arrived. The rest of our crew trickled in after Skytress Angela and I sat down. One by one, we recounted how we had spent our day in Nashville. We spent the remainder of the evening talking and laughing. It was a rare treat for all of us to gather around a table and hang out as a crew. My crew and I continued laughing and joking as we stepped into the elevator to head to our respective hotel rooms. As I walked to my room, I was so grateful we made it to Nashville. All the praying I had done the night before on our approach into the airport was totally worth it. I thought to myself, “Hooray for The Rerouted Skytress not being rerouted!”

Hooray for “The Rerouted Skytress” celebrating it’s third anniversary! I can only fathom the stories I will blog about this coming year. I’m confident the Rerouted Skytress will get rerouted a few times. Hopefully, the reroutes will be blog worthy. Heck. If I have to be rerouted, I should at least get a good blog story out of it. Fortunately for you my sweet readers, summertime flying is fast approaching. All Skytresses and Skyters know summertime flying produces some of the best stories. I surmise several of these stories will be survival stories. Yessiree. Stories of how we survived the summer passengers and newly hired Skytresses and Skyters. I anticipate on having some fabulous layovers to blog about, too. That’s a hint, hint and a wink, wink to the bidding gods. If not, I’ll just have to create some fun layovers so I can blog about them.

I want to thank you all, again for reading my blog. This journey would not be the same without you all. You all are the most loyal, gracious passengers this Rerouted Skytress could ever ask for. Once again, I have booked a first-class seat for you all so we can ponder life, share some laughs and possibly shed a tear or two. So…Here’s to an adventurous fourth year. In the infamous written words of Ron, “Let’s have a great trip”.

I am convinced there is more intense praying at the Known Crew Member security line than there is at some churches on Sunday. No one wants to be the random selectee that has to go through the regular security line. Sadly, our faith is not so strong while we are in these lines. We are all convinced we are going to be the TSA’s random person. When we make it through the check point there is major rejoicing. If we don’t make it through, we question the entire KCM-TSA system. Yessiree. Our faith is challenged. Faith, however, should be constant. Unfortunately, many people’s faith is like flying. It’s all over the place.

This is Holy Week. It’s the perfect week to write about faith and God’s presence. Yessiree. My faith is unyielding. However, I am not complacent with my faith. I work on my faith daily. Especially when I am flying. Heck. Some days I encounter on average 600 people just on my flights. I’ll admit. Some passengers elicit more prayers to God than others. Thankfully, I witness God’s abundant love daily while I’m out flying, too. God is a loyal passenger on our airline. Yes. I know God is a loyal passenger on all airlines. I believe he prefers our airline the most, though. After all, we do go above and beyond as we….”keep climbing”.

I remember one particular flight I was glad God was flying with me. It was a mid-morning flight. I had only served two rows when my beverage cart drawers became stuck. In the process of trying to get the drawers unstuck, a can of club soda fell out, hit the floor and started spraying all over the place. The young girls on my left giggled. The gentleman on my right did not. He was getting the brunt of the spray. I tried to grab the club soda can so the spray wouldn’t hit the gentleman’s computer. In his frustration, the gentleman kept kicking the can to get it away from him. Unfortunately, it only caused the soda to spray even more. His face was turning a deep shade of red. He was beyond angry with me. I had the awful feeling this gentleman thought I dropped the can on purpose. He lashed out at me with angry words. I apologized profusely. I used every cocktail napkin I had on my cart to wipe up the soda spray. The gentleman was furious the club soda had sprayed on his blazer. He told me he only brought one blazer on his trip and he had to wear it for three days. I apologized once more and told the gentleman I would clean his blazer up in the galley. When I went up front, I hung the gentleman’s blazer near the Skytress jumpseat so the air vent would dry it faster. There was no need for me to clean the jacket. After all, we use club soda to clean up any thing that spills on fabric in the first place. I thought it was best not to mention this to the gentleman, though. I knew he wasn’t going to be receptive to anything I had to say at that moment. I then went back into the cabin and gave the gentleman extra skymiles for his inconvenience. He was still very displeased with me. Nothing I said to the gentleman seemed to help the situation. Reluctantly, I knew I had to move on with my beverage service. I silently asked God to bring this man peace, for I could not. I turned to the young girls on my left and apologized to them for the club soda shower. The young girl on the aisle smiled and said, “Don’t worry about it. Accidents happen”. I said a silent prayer of thanks to God. The young girl’s kind comments made me feel so much better. The young girl then said she liked my bracelet. I thanked her. I told her another Skytress had given it to me. I told her my bracelet had been blessed by the Pope. I smiled and told her I think of God whenever I look at it. I could tell the gentleman was listening to my conversation with the young girl. I saw him looking at my bracelet as I poured the young girl’s drink. Something shifted in his demeanor. I know at that moment God was speaking to this man’s heart. As I released my cart brake the gentleman turned to me and apologized for his anger. I could see the man was now at peace. As I pushed my beverage cart to the next row, I distinctly remember thinking what we say at Mass. “Peace be with you. And with your spirit”. Thankfully, God heard my prays and granted peace both to the gentleman and to me.

I truly felt God’s presence one morning when we were flying out of West Palm Beach. A hurricane had changed its routing and was now heading towards the area. People were heeding the call and were evacuating en mass. That morning we had a high number of elderly passengers on our flight. Most were traveling on their own to meet up with family in other states. I knew under different circumstances they wouldn’t have been traveling alone. The weather had dictated that they had to now. The first passenger to board the airplane was a lovely elderly woman. I had the pleasure to assist her to her seat. The woman gently held on to my arm to steady herself as we walked down the aisle. I could tell she was nervous about traveling on her own. So, I took time to talk with her. I reassured her we would take great care of her and get her safely to her family. I wished I could have sat with this woman the entire flight to ease her mind. A few minutes later a gentleman walked down the aisle assisting his elderly mother. They were sitting in the same row with the woman I had been talking too. The elderly woman struggled to move in her seat so the gentleman and his mother could sit down. The gentleman’s face showed complete compassion for the elderly woman. He gently helped the woman unbuckle her seatbelt and helped her stand up. He then helped his mother sit down in the row. He continued to stand in the row as he helped the elderly woman settle back in her seat. He carefully helped her re-buckle her seatbelt. The elderly woman thanked the gentleman for helping her with her seatbelt. She sheepishly told the gentleman she didn’t normally fly on her own. The gentleman turned to her and smiled. He told her it was a blessing from God that he and his mother got seats on this flight when a hurricane was coming….and it was another blessing from God that he and his mother would be able to fly to Atlanta with her as their seat mate. My heart swelled as I watched this gentleman dote on his mother and the sweet lady the entire flight. He made both women feel extra-special. I knew, without a doubt, God walked with this gentleman every day. Better yet, I knew this gentleman was completely aware that God walked with him everyday, too.

God was definitely walking with me and my crew one day while we were walking down the concourse in Atlanta. A young man walked up to us and asked us where the USO was in the airport. I started to give the young man directions. However, something in my heart told me I had plenty of time between flights and I should walk him to the train and show him instead. So, I did. On our way to the train I asked the young man where he was from. He told me, Butte, Montana. I couldn’t believe it. Of all the people he walked up to in the airport, he walked up to the one Skytress that was from Butte, Montana. When I told the young man I was from Butte, he laughed. I laughed, too. At that moment I completely understood why God had spoken to me to walk with this young man to the USO. The young man told me he was heading off to basic training. He told me his mom and girlfriend cried at the Butte airport before he boarded his flight. They were heartbroken that he was leaving home. He said they called him when he landed in Salt Lake City. They had called him again when he landed in Atlanta. They were worried he would get lost in the Atlanta airport because it was so big. He told them not to worry. He told them he would ask someone for help if he needed it. I was certain the young man’s mom and girlfriend were praying for God to watch over him from the moment he got on the airplane in Butte. God definitely heard their prayers. Little did they know God would choose a Skytress from Butte to watch over him on the first day he left home. Yessiree. It was truly a God wink for us all!

Encounters like these at the airport only strengthen my faith and love for God. My faith is strengthened even more by my fellow Skytresses and Skyters. I see how God touches their lives on a daily basis. I see them pray with the airport chaplain early on Sunday mornings when he comes to the crew lounge. I see them studying their Bibles in the hotel lobbies before we leave for the airport. I see them in the crew lounge silently praying before they start to eat. My faith is strengthened whenever I see a crew member wearing their cross necklace. You see, there was a time when we were not allowed to wear any necklaces with our current uniform. Not even a cross necklace. Not surprisingly, we wore our cross necklaces in solidarity and in defiance of the uniform policy. Our faith was unyielding. Ultimately, the uniform policy was forced to yield to God. “We know that all things work for good for those who love God” Romans 8:28

These days I am expanding my faith in God and my Catholic religion by following the catechism in a year program. I haven’t missed a day. Yessiree. God is with me 24/7. My friend Brad suggested a Bible app for me, too. It has a verse of the day and a guided prayer section. I am so grateful Brad told me about this app. It, too, has strengthened my faith. When I had my long layover in Huntsville Brad and I talked for hours on the phone about God. As you can see, God doesn’t just fly on our airline…he comes on our layovers, too. He truly is the ultimate traveling companion. Yessiree. God goes wherever I go.

Even though God loves our airline,…I confess,….you don’t need to fly our airline to have him in your life. No siree. God doesn’t bring us all to him in the same way. Just as there are numerous ways to get from my house to the airport, there are numerous ways God brings us to know him. Of course, when you know God,…it’s Heavenly! I hope this Holy Week you feel God’s love for you. I, also, pray you rejoice this Easter Sunday like you successfully made it through the Known Crew Member security line….for Jesus has risen. Happy Easter, my sweet friends. God bless you all.