The Rerouted Skytress

Veterans Day is my favorite day of the year to fly. Since this is 2020 and everything seems to be out of wack, of course, I won’t be flying this Veterans Day. Normally on Veterans Day we hand out premium chocolates to all our passengers to celebrate the day. This year because of COVID-19, I’m almost certain we won’t be sharing a sweet treat on our flights. Our company usually has festivities to honor our large contingent of military veterans. These festivities have been postponed this year. Instead, celebrations will take place via Zoom. But, COVID-19 can’t stop me from writing a blog post to honor our Veterans. Sadly, it was pointed out to me years ago, that many Americans thank older veterans for their service. We are less consistent wishing younger veterans a Happy Veterans Day. I know I was guilty of this fact. I corrected the error of my ways that Veterans Day. If you are reading this blog post, and have served in the military, I want to thank you for your service and dedication to our country. You make me proud to be an American.

We can emulate many admirable traits from our Veterans.. Yes, these admirable attributes come under the headings of leadership, honor, and loyalty. But, there are other lesser known qualities we can emulate, too…..like organization skills, precision, and dedication to details. For me, a self-proclaimed organization-lover, I covet these traits I learned from dating men that served in the military. Years ago, I dated a pilot at our airline. He served in the Air Force. When I first saw his closet, I was blown away by what I saw. His clothes were spaced perfectly. His shirts were not only coordinated by color, they were also lined up based on the descending sleeve length. It was an epiphany moment for me. Then when I saw how his tools were organized, I was overjoyed. He had outlines for all his tools on his garage wall. In his 5-drawer tool chest, he had foam cutouts for where the tools were to be place. Simply amazing! I consciously tried to duplicate these details in my home. I know I did an admirable job. How do I know this? A former boyfriend I dated after the pilot told me so. When he saw my closet for the first time he said we would get along splendidly. He was a West Point graduate and had served in the Army. He was trained to be organized, too. I told him I learned my organizational skills from an Air Force guy. He winced a wee bit. But, there is a camaraderie between military people. He admired the pilot’s influence on me. I didn’t want to tell him this same Air Force boyfriend was awarded a bronze sculpture for rewriting our airline’s smoke in the cockpit procedures. He and another pilot used their military training to clear the smoke out of the cockpit when our airline’s procedures didn’t work. However, I did tell Mr. West Point, my favorite passenger of all times was General Norman Schwarzkopf. General Schwarzkopf was also a West Point graduate. Interestingly, the General”s wife, Brenda, was once a Skytress …..for TWA!!!

Mr. West Point also had me watch the mini-series, “Band of Brothers”. He wanted me to understand the brotherhood of those who have served in the military. Even though it is one of my favorite mini-series, I didn’t need to watch it to understand the bond between those who have served. I have the honor of witnessing it everyday. Especially at my airline. Whether it is interactions with my airline family or with our passengers, I see the beautiful military influence on active and retired veterans. A large majority of our pilots are veterans. When I was hired as a Skytress, it was rare to find a pilot that wasn’t military. I’m proud to say we have veterans in many departments at my airline. We have mechanics, ramp agents, customer service agents, reservation agents, and most definitely Skytresses and Skyters that are veterans. We have thousands, yes thousands, of veterans in various departments and positions at my airline. I’m proud to say many are still serving our country in active and voluntary roles. We have a dedicated group of veterans that serve as Honor Guards to meet fallen soldiers being escorted back home via our airline. We also have a group of dedicated veterans that send care packages around the world to those currently serving in the military. And when I say packages, I mean PACKAGES…..typically 70 big boxes per month. That’s a lot of boxes filled with military love!

I love to recognize military people flying on my flights. Both active and retired veterans. I always thank them for their service. Without fail, they always say it is,..or was,…an honor to serve. I am not the only one at my airline that likes to acknowledge our military servicemen and women. My heart leaps inside when a fellow employee recognizes our veterans. Many times we don’t realize what a simple act of acknowledgment can mean to someone….or a family. I learned this valuable lesson early on in my career. We were flying out of Washington D.C. early one morning. I was the Skytress In-Charge. We had many military men and women on board. I concluded my landing PA. by saying it was an honor to acknowledge the servicemen and women on our flight. I said on behalf of my crew and all the employees at our airline, we’d like to thank them for their service and dedication to our country. I prayed that wherever their military service took them….. it was a safe journey. The passengers applauded in recognition of our military passengers. As the passengers deplaned in Cincinnati, I held a beautiful wooden American flag case. I had placed the encased flag in my closet for safe keeping for a family that had just buried their son at Arlington. When the soldier’s parents were deplaning, I handed them their flag. I offered them my condolences again. The soldier’s mother stood before me and thanked me for making the PA. It meant a lot to her. She said when she saw all the military passengers on our flight, she also said a prayer that they would stay out of harms way. She hoped when I said my PA that the passengers on our flight also said a prayer for our soldiers. It would be their “gift” in honor of her son. I think about this soldier’s family more times than I can count. I pray their days are filled with peace and love.

Each branch of the military has a creed by which the servicemen and women live and serve by. These oaths are not only honored while in service, they are honored all their lives. I mentioned earlier that my company has a Honor Guard of veterans to greet the the planes escorting fallen soldiers. However, not all cities have this Honor Guard. But, that doesn’t stop our veterans in other cities from honoring those fallen soldiers. One day I was sitting in the gatehouse in Cincinnati. I went up extra early to have a moment of peace while waiting for our plane to arrive. I noticed a group of ramp agents riding on tugs towards my gate. They were coming from different directions and from different concourses. I was curious as to why they were all coming over to meet the plane. I could see the ramp crew working the flight was already in place. After the aircraft was parked, a funeral hearse pulled up to the back of the airplane. The ramp agents lined both sides of the luggage beltloader. As a flag-covered coffin was unloaded from the cargo compartment, the all stood saluting. Each ramp agent spoke with the military escort accompanying the fallen soldier after the body was placed in the hearse. I looked around the gatehouse. I was the only one to bear witness to this impromptu ceremony. I was overwhelmed with pride for our ramp agents. They may have traded their military uniforms in for airline uniforms, but, they were still serving their fellow soldiers.

The heart of a soldier is extraordinary. I had the privilege to hear a fellow Skyter’s soldier story two years ago at a company-wide meeting. Employees from various departments attended a program so we could have a better understanding of each department’s role at our airline. Yes, knowledge is power. One of the moderators was speaking about going above and beyond what is expected in your job description and the ultimate impact it will have on others. The moderator asked if anyone in the assembly would like to share a moment of unexpected kindness bestowed upon them and how it affected them. A Skyter raised his hand and told us his story. He was a medic in the military going overseas on deployment. He was on one of our airline’s military charter flights. It was late at night and all of his fellow soldiers were sleeping. He could not sleep. He had this prevailing thought bouncing around in his head and heart. He knew he and his soldiers were going to encounter difficult situations. He knew some of his soldiers were going to get hurt. He was confident that he was thoroughly trained to help and ultimately save the lives of those men and women. In practical terms, he also knew he wouldn’t be able to save everyone. This weighed heavily on his heart. A Skytress on his flight noticed he was the only one not sleeping. She invited him to come to the back galley to talk. She asked him his name. He replied with his military rank and last name. She smiled and asked him what his Momma called him. He told her. He also told her why he couldn’t sleep. She asked him if he would like to pray with her to ease his troubled mind. He told us he wasn’t very religious, but, he felt a prayer couldn’t hurt. He said she held his hand and prayed for him and his soldiers. When she was done, she took her wings off her uniform and placed them in his hand. She told him whenever he was overwhelmed with worry and concern on his deployment, he was to hold on to the wings and know she was praying for him. He said when he left the military he knew he wanted to come work for our company because of the kindness of the Skytress. We are blessed to have him as part of our airline family. He is another incredible example of the thousands of veterans that our airplane employs. His dedication to serving his fellow soldiers has parlayed into his dedication to our company and our passengers. He not only has an extraordinary soldier’s heart, he now has an extraordinary Skyter’s heart.

I know you all have extraordinary hearts, too. I know this Wednesday you will reach out to your family members and friends that have served in the military. I know you will call, text or send an email to wish them a Happy Veterans Day. This is my plan, too. I will, also, say a prayer to those that served that are no longer with us. I am certain they will hear my prayers in Heaven. You may have noticed I haven’t used an apostrophe in the spelling of Veterans Day. I take my lead from the United States Department of Veterans Affairs. They choose to use the possessive case for their official spelling, “because it is not a day that ‘belongs’ to veterans, it a day for honoring all veterans.” I could not have said it better. It has been my privilege to honor ALL our veterans in this blog post today. Happy Veterans Day everyone!

Do you know Canadians love Shredded Wheat? I mean LOOOOVVVEEEE Shredded Wheat! I discovered this years ago when we had meal services in the main cabin. When we flew to the western providences of Canada, we were catered with hot meals and cold meals. The hot meal selection was scrambled eggs. The cold meal selection was Shredded Wheat cereal. My first trip to Canada I was certain we would run out of eggs immediately. Who would choose to eat Shredded Wheat? Usually our cereal was Cheerios, Corn Flakes or Chex Cereal. I had no idea why whe would be catered with Shredded Wheat. Well, my stars, those passengers in and out of Canada couldn’t get enough of the Shredded Wheat Cereal! Every trip it was the preferred choice. I was always gobsmacked . The Shredded Wheat mass consumption was only one of many things that has intrigued me about Canada for years. Another intriguing thing about Canada is,… the cutest, and I mean CUTEST Customs Border Officers are in Toronto. I believe it is the number one criteria for becoming a Customs Border Officer in Toronto. If not, it is just a natural phenomenon! Those officers are phenomenally… naturally gorgeous. Not surprisingly, I have many wonderful memories of flying in and out of Canada….and not just gawking at the Customs Border Officers in Toronto. Of course, it will be my pleasure to share a few stories with you. Let’s start in the providence of British Columbia and we will work our way East to Quebec. You know they will be nice, friendly stories. Canadians ooze nice and friendly out of their bodies. Must be the Shredded Wheat.

My tour of Vancouver, British Columbia, started on a city bus with my First Officer. We had a long Vancouver layover. However, for some reason, we were laying over by the airport . The First Officer said he was going to take the bus into Vancouver. He wanted to know if anyone would like to accompany him. He spoke as if he had a plan. Apparently, I was the only one on the crew that liked a man with a plan. So, only he and I hopped on the bus. The First Officer was diligently looking over the map when our bus finally came to a stop. I sat there quietly next to him because I didn’t have a map….or a plan. The passengers on the bus asked us if we needed any help with directions. They politely told us this was the last bus stop. Even the bus driver was apologetic that he couldn’t drive us further. Amazingly, the rest of the day when the First Officer pulled out his map, people would walk up to us and ask us if we needed help. It was so refreshing. We walked miles that day. We strolled through numerous beautiful parks and neighborhoods. We gawked at the enormous cruise ships docked in the water. We sauntered by a multitude of interesting shops I would have loved to peeked in. Unfortunately, I could tell I was more interested in shopping than he was. So, we kept sauntering. We eventually traipsed into a restaurant and had a meal. And I talked. A lot. When I was a young Skytress silence used to make me nervous. Since it was just the two of us, I felt compelled to keep the conversation going. I was actually trying to think of things to talk about. Well, apparently I did a great job. The next day our crew asked the First Officer how our day was touring Vancouver. He said we had a wonderful time. He also added, “Eileen sure likes to talk.” I laughed at it then and I still do. That poor First Officer probably didn’t talk to the Captain the whole way back home. I’m sure I made him talk more than he had in years…. combined.

I told you all a wee bit about one of my Calgary layovers last week. I used to layover in Calgary a lot when I was based in Cincinnati. No layover was complete without a trip to the Calgary Tower in downtown Calgary. The tower rotates so you can see all around the city and the surrounding areas. It always humored me to see the Olympic Ski Jumping ramp in the far distance poking up out of the trees. I loved watching Eddie “The Eagle” Edwards Ski jumped off that ramp. The Calgary Olympics were one of my favorites growing up. The Jamaican Bobsled team made everyone smile in Calgary. Another thing that made me smile in Calgary …..eating with my crews! I’ve definitely had my share of dinners at The Buzzards Breath in Calgary. It was a crew favorite. One layover our Captain suggested a different restaurant he loved. He told us you could eat peanuts at your table and throw the shells on the floor….to soak up the spilled beer, of course. Apparently, Canadians are messy drinkers. Throwing stuff on the floor sounded very appealing to us. However, when we got to the restaurant the floors were pristine. We thought the Captain may have been wrong about the peanut shells on the floor. Yes, we ate every peanut in our baskets when the Captain brought them to the table. But, not one of us dropped a shell on the floor. No patrons at other tables did either. Finally, the Captain had enough of our lollygagging. He unapologetically flung his peanut shells on the floor. We all held our breath for him to be admonished by the waitress. Nothing happened. Well, actually, something did happened. People at other tables brushed their towering piles of peanut shells on the floor, too. Happily, no one got in trouble. Although, I would have loved to have seen a Royal Canadian Mountie in his handsome red uniform walk across the peanut-shell covered floor to give us Americans a talking to. Oh, Canada…..Canadian Mounties make my Irish eyes smile!

On we go to Edmonton. I was excited to finally fly to Edmonton. After all, they have one of the largest malls in the world. Besides eating, Skytresses love to shop. Sadly, I never had a long enough layover to go to the mall. Fortunately, I had long enough layovers to get together with my crews for dinner. The topic of conversation on our Edmonton layovers was always the hotel decor. It was very dated. It was if we had stepped back in time with all the shag carpet and dark woodwork. Sadly, not beautiful mahogany woodwork, either. Rather, very odd, early 1970’s woodwork. Whenever I would go to the restaurant with my crew, I always expected Mrs. Brady and Alice to bring out our meals.

If Toronto has the cutest Customs Border Officers, Edmonton has the quirkiest. I am convinced the Customs Border Officers in Edmonton brief early in the morning and decide how they are going to have fun at the U.S. flight crews expense. I remember once an officer asked me if I had a watch on. I told him I did. He then asked me what brand of watch it was. I would have laughed, only he had a very authoritative voice and he sort of scared me. Of course, my mind went blank and I wasn’t sure what he was fishing for. So, I blurted out my watch was a Timex. It wasn’t a Timex. But, I must have said it with such conviction that he was satisfied with my answer. He then asked the Skytress on my crew if she had any matches. When she said “yes”, I wasn’t sure what was going to happen. He asked her where she got them. She pulled them out of her flight bag and told him she got them at the hotel. He seemed satisfied with that answer, too. Amazingly, every time we left Edmonton an officer would ask us oddball questions. I love Alberta. But, Edmonton, no offense,….you are a peculiar place with nice,….but, peculiar people.

Toronto is a much more sophisticated city than Edmonton. My opinion may be skewed a wee bit because of the handsome Customs Border Officers and the plethora of chic Toronto boutiques I’ve happily wandered into throughout the years. I know I’ve written about my dream of owning the Toronto Blue Jays. Our crews used to stay at the Skydome Renaissance hotel. (now it’s a Marriott) In my opinion, staying at the Skydome was pure sophistication. It’s a stadium and a hotel! A baseball- loving, architect-genius came up with this concept! I loved how we could go to the hotel bar and stand directly behind the baseball fans in their stadium seats. The hotel would permit one crew member to stay in a guest room that overlooked the outfield, instead of our regular crew rooms, if one was available. Of course, the person that had the room had to agree to let the crew come in to watch the game, too. The crew members also had to sign a waiver like all guest that stayed in rooms over looking the field. The waiver stated no one would be naked or lewd in their rooms with the curtains open. I never had to worry about signing the waiver. There was never a room available for the crew when I stayed there. My relatives have stayed in the rooms overlooking the outfield. I’m proud to report they kept their clothes on when they watched the game! Still, the guest rooms we stayed in were still something to behold. The rooms had two levels. The lower level had the bathroom and sitting area. The sleeping area was up a flight of stairs. Pure Skytress sophistication! I always slept well in the elevated bedroom. Well, unless the guy that loved to hit his drum outside the stadium was there. Unfortunately, he didn’t actually play his drum. He just hit it. It was definitely bizarre….and annoying. He was a far cry from a sophisticated drum player. I’m sure he was most likely from Edmonton.

Here’s an interesting fact. I’ve never layed over in Montreal when it wasn’t bitterly cold. I know they have summers there. Maybe one day I will experience a warm Montreal day. Hopefully, it will be when they have their beautiful outdoor markets open. I do like cold weather. I’m just not built for Montreal cold weather. I believe the ramp agents in Montreal are some of the hardiest humans around. Interestingly, they are also the happiest ramp agents around. Working outside in the harsh weather doesn’t seem to phase them. Unlike the ramp guys, when I was in Montreal, I tried not to leave the warm underground city on my layovers. There are shops and restaurants in the underground city. I kept close to the hotel’s underground entrance when I went shopping. The underground city is confusing to me. I always had a fear I would get lost if I ventured too far from the hotel. I was, also, keenly aware of the fact I don’t speak French if I got lost, too. Once my crew and I got lost in the underground tunnels when we were looking for a restaurant outside. We wanted to eat at a restaurant one of my Skytress friends had gone to with her husband a few weeks prior. We were trying to use the underground tunnels to avoid going outside in the cold to get to the restaurant. Because we love to eat at my airline, Skytress Donna was determined to get us there using the underground tunnels. We would pop up from the underground city like little prairie dogs and Skytress Donna would look out the glass doors to the outside. Several times we did this, ….only to go back down to the tunnels to pop up in another area. Skytress Donna could see the restaurant each time we were at street level looking outside. She just couldn’t figure out what underground tunnel we needed to take to get there. So, she finally asked the dreaded question. Would we mind going outside into the subzero temperatures to get to the restaurant? Since we were now very hungry from all our failed attempts to get to the restaurant via underground, we all agreed to bundle up and proceed into the bitter cold. Now, I have to take Skytress Donna’s word that the food was delicious. I did eat my entire meal. However, I shivered too much during my meal to notice how my food actually tasted.

The last time I crossed the border into Canada was my first trip after Ron died. I flew into Toronto. I flew with my Skytress friend Kristin. She took great care of me. She was my angel on Earth. My angel in Heaven, Ron, knew about my love for Canada. Especially, Toronto. I like to think Ron smiled in Heaven when we landed in Toronto. We weren’t laying over in Toronto on that trip. We were just doing a Toronto turn. Unfortunately, I wouldn’t be able to see the cute Toronto Border Officers. I think Ron may have laughed a wee bit in Heaven knowing this. He knew about my unyielding love for the cute Toronto Border Officers. Ron also knew I loved him more than the cute Border Officers. Yes, Shredded Wheat Cereal may make the cute Canadian Border Officers ooze nice and friendly out of their bodies. But, Ron’s Frosted Mini-Wheats he loved to snack on, most definitely made him much sweeter to me.

This Halloween my neighborhood isn’t going to have it’s Haunted Forest. No COVID is much more scary than the Haunted Forest ever was. There also won’t be trick or treaters this year in my neighborhood. Less candy around our house will not be a bad thing. I plan on making a pumpkin-flavored Jack O’Lantern cake instead. I have to do SOMETHING for Halloween. You all know how I love a good theme! I couldn’t resist making light-up ghosts for the front porch, either. Darn Pinterest!!!! I wasn’t sure if I was going to put Halloween out this year. But, my neighborhood was starting to get decked out in orange and black. The blow-up decorations were popping up everywhere. It all made me smile. Boy, do we need smiles this year! I howled when my neighbor put her scary mannequin in her hammock. He is definitely relaxing this Halloween. I vote my neighbor, Kim, as the Halloween decorations winner with her spooktacular sense of humor! I remember one year I bought a witch in Mobile, Alabama, on my layover. I hung it from our front porch on a broom with bats flying around her. I loved that witch. My Dad wasn’t a fan of her. When I came home with my witch, I put her in the rocking chair in the family room. That October my sister and her girls were living with my parents while their house was being built. In the middle of the night one of my nieces got out of bed. She saw the witch in the chair. Only she didn’t know it was a “material” witch. She got so scared she went in my parent’s room and woke my Dad up. She told my Dad there was a scary person in the family room. My Dad got out of bed not sure who he was going to encounter. Yep, it was my witch happily sitting in the rocking chair. My Dad chided me for leaving her there and scaring my nieces. I thought my innocent mistake was hysterical. I cackled just like my material witch would have,….if she could have!

Halloween has never been one of my favorite holidays. Sure, I love candy. I just hated trying to think of a Halloween costume to wear each year to go out and get some. My favorite Halloween costume was my Bugs Bunny costume I wore when I was a young girl. The costume came with a face mask. I can still feel the moisture on my face from the warmth of my breath hitting the plastic mask in the cold air. I would stick my tongue through the small mouth slit constantly. It was weirdly comforting to me. Plus, I thought it was funny to see my tongue poke through that little mouth slit. My costumes after Bugs Bunny were your basic hobo and witch costumes. My friend Liesl had fabulous costumes. Her Mom sewed them. My Mom didn’t sew. But, she could smear green eye-shadow all over my face and plop a witch hat on my head…and off I would go on my Halloween route. Every year I would walk the same route. I always went up the street to the house where the man worked for a toy company. Each year I picked a yo-yo toy. Yes, he allowed us to choose our favorite toy out of his candy bowl. Eventually, I would head down the street to the house where the woman made popcorn balls. They were my favorite. I loved them more than any of my candies. Sadly, I always forgot to go to the Clatt’s house. Rick worked for Nestle. He gave out one-pound chocolate bars to each trick or treater. The Clatt’s weren’t on my Halloween route. They were on my sister’s and brother’s routes, though. Each year, they would come home after I took my costume off and proudly pull the one-pound candy bars out of their pillow cases. It was always at this moment I would remember…. that…. I forgot to go to the Clatt’s house….again!!! Somehow, those one-pound candy bars always went to work with my Dad. He liked to go trick or treating in our freezer after we put our Halloween candy in there.

I was so happy when I outgrew trick or treating. I no longer had to worry about a Halloween costume. There were a few Halloweens when I commuted to Cincinnati. My friends would have parties and they would always invite me. Trying to think of a Halloween costume I could fit in my Skytress suitcase was never an easy task. I eventually just wore my regular clothes and went as a Skytress on a layover. No one seemed to question my outfit. They were just happy I came to the party. I always was happy I came, too. They were extremely fun friends. Plus, unlike me, they all were very creative with their costumes. If I had enough room in my suitcase, I would have rented a bunny costume. Not like my Bugs Bunny costume or a Playboy Bunny outfit. Rather, the Easter Bunny. To this day, it is my dream costume. One day I will hand out Halloween candy as the Easter Bunny. Several years ago, I almost dressed up one Halloween to give out candy. I bought a fabulous witch hat in the Minneapolis airport. It had marvelous black feathers around the rim. I saw the hat in my favorite airport shop. It was expensive. However, after I saw it, I couldn’t stop thinking about it. The following week when I was passing through Minneapolis, I went back to the shop to look at the hat. Amazingly, it was on sale because Halloween was fast approaching. Of course, I bought it. My dog Finley barked excessively when I put it on to hand out candy. So, never wore it. I can only imagine what she will do if I wear the Easter Bunny costume to hand out candy. Finley, apparently, loves me just the way I am!

Most Halloweens I would chose to fly. More Skytresses and Skyters call out sick on Halloween than any other day at my airline. I figured if I flew the holiday someone else would be able to be off and not call in sick. After I moved back to St. Louis, I would bid the day off. I loved seeing my nieces get all dressed up to go trick or treating. My niece Jill still gets dressed up at college. This year she is going as Belle from Beauty and the Beast. She even painted scenes on her shoes. She is a Halloween enthusiast!

My favorite Skytress Halloween memories occurred when I was a relatively new Skytress based in Cincinnati. My crew and I were scheduled to fly to Cleveland and then back to Cincinnati. After that, we were to fly to Denver and then to Calgary to layover. Our Skytress In-Charge brought a multitude of Halloween decorations with her in her flight bag. Her Dad was going to join us in Cincinnati and come with us to our Calgary layover. So, she wanted to decorate the plane for him and the other passengers. We flew to Cleveland with a full airplane. While we were there the weather in Cincinnati deteriorated. A spooky Halloween snow storm had moved in. Surprisingly, crew scheduling decided they didn’t want us to fly back to Cincinnati. Crew scheduling was afraid the plane would get stuck in Cincinnati with the weather. So, the schedulers decided we would fly directly from Cleveland to Denver. I felt bad for our Skytress In-Charge. Her Dad was in Cincinnati and wouldn’t be able to fly to Calgary with us. Unlike our full-flight from Cincinnati to Cleveland, we didn’t have many passengers in Cleveland flying to Denver. We, actually, only had 1 passenger. That was passenger Ed. Ed was really cool. When we first referred to him by his last name, he said just to call him Ed. Ed quickly realized when he was the only passenger on our flight, we were all going to have a lot of time to get to know each other. Thus, formalities were not necessary. Ed was at a wedding prior to getting on our flight. He told us he had a lovely dinner at the wedding. He had already had his cocktails for the evening at the wedding, too. I think he felt a wee bit guilty we couldn’t get him anything and finally decided to have a Coke to make us happy. Ed was extremely nice. We had a fantastic time talking to him and kidding with him. Our Skytress In-Charge, Susan, told Ed she had Halloween decorations for the plane. She asked him if he would like to help us decorate the airplane to help pass the time. Ed, thought this was a great idea. He helped us string crepe paper from the front of the plane to the back. He helped us make ghosts out of the pillow cases. He helped us string cobwebs from the overhead bins. Skytress Susan, also, brought a fake arm with her. We placed that in an overhead bin so the arm was hanging out. Of course, we had to put cobwebs in the hand, too. Later, when we got to Denver the Captain got a boarding card and put it in the fake hand. He had wrote “reduced fair” on the boarding card. After we decorated the plane, we all headed back to first class to chit-chat some more. We were on the Boeing 727. Our three pilots took turns coming out to talk to us and passenger Ed. It felt more like a casual friends gathering than an actual flight. When we got to Denver we were all so sad to see passenger Ed leave. I still think about passenger Ed when I fly into Cleveland or Denver. I hope passenger Ed has fond memories of this flight, too.

When we boarded the plane in Denver, the looks on the passenger’s faces were priceless. They saw all the Halloween decorations and couldn’t make heads or tails of it all. They were dumbfounded. They actually questioned the decorations. We just smiled and said, “Happy Halloween!” I’m quite sure, later, they told all their friends they had the weirdest flight from Denver to Calgary. We didn’t mind their lack of enthusiasm for our Halloween decorations. We had enough enthusiasm to make us quite proud of our and Ed’s hard work. Of course, when we got to Calgary we left all the decorations up in the plane. The ground crew in Calgary loved it. They completely understood our Halloween spirit. We did, however, take the fake arm with us. Skytress Susan made sure it was hanging out of her bag as we walked through the airport. My crew and I loved that she did this. When we went through customs, not one customs officer questioned her about her fake arm. I guess they have seen it all. We, on the other hand, couldn’t contain our laughter. Skytress Susan had a great sense of humor. When we got to our layover hotel we ran to our rooms to quickly change out of our uniforms. We planned to meet back in the lobby to go get some dinner. As you may remember from last week’s post, we love to eat at my airline! Skytress Susan brought the fake arm with her when we went to eat. We all walked happily down the street to the restaurant with the arm handing out of Susan’s over-sized purse. No one on the streets or in the restaurant batted an eye. I’m positive they all knew we were Americans. I’m sure many Canadians think we Americans are all a wee bit weird at times. We had the best evening at the restaurant. Sadly, I cannot remember the name of the restaurant. But, I do remember it was hands-down the best pizza I have ever had. Maybe it was the the spirit of Halloween that made the pizza taste better. It didn’t hurt. No matter what it was, it is still one boo-tiful Halloween memory.

I was so happy this summer when I discovered the Cowboy Channel. I watched countless rodeos as I quarantined. It was pure happiness for my Montana soul. Surprisingly, a few weeks ago, I switched from my Cowboy channel to the Hallmark Channel. I didn’t mean to do it. It just happened naturally. One night my rodeo was a repeat. So, I clicked down a few channels. Before I knew it, I was drawn into …..a pumpkin farmer meets a rich city girl trying to make a living…drama. I watched the whole movie. Then I watched the next one. Almost every night since I have watched a Hallmark movie. However, I watch them differently now. I always watch the first ten-minutes. Then I multitask…..either reading, writing or checking out Pinterest. I refocus about 15 minutes prior to the movie’s ending. There always is a disagreement or misunderstanding about that time. Three minutes to the end of the movie everything works out perfectly with either a kiss or a wedding. I’ve seen a lot of weddings! I’ve seen church weddings. Weddings in parks. Even a few weddings in a barn. Amazingly, I have yet to see a wedding in a Holiday Inn lobby. No, those aren’t the kinds of weddings for the Hallmark Channel. Those weddings are for flight crews on their layovers. Remarkably, I’ve witnessed two Holiday Inn lobby weddings so far. As I told my incredulous crew’s at each wedding we saw, …”You have to get married somewhere”.

I’m not sure if the Holiday Inn has a lobby wedding package. But, I find it ironic that both weddings happened at this hotel chain. The first hotel lobby wedding took place in Monroe, Louisiana, at the Holidome. I’ll admit, I never really took notice of the hotel lobby before the wedding. This hotel offered flight crews 50% off in the hotel restaurant. Every layover we couldn’t get our room keys fast enough. We”d get our keys and run to our rooms to change into layover clothes. When we said we would meet in the restaurant in 10 minutes, we meant it. Actually, we would be in our seats looking over the menu in less time than that. This hotel had the best fajitas we ever tasted. Okay, maybe they tasted better because they were 50% off. This particular layover my crew and I were happily eating our meal when our Skytress In-Charge looked into the hotel lobby from her seat in the restaurant. We thought she was delirious from the amazing fajita aroma when she said she thought a wedding was about to take place in the hotel lobby. Not surprisingly, we all stopped eating when she said this. Before we could put our fajitas back on our plates, she shockingly proclaimed the woman was marrying a child! I don’t care how great those fajitas were. When someone tells you a woman is marrying a child in the hotel lobby, you put your fajitas down and look. Before we could get out of our chairs, our Skytress In-Charge realized the woman’s son was walking her down the aisle. We still walked over to the restaurant windows and looked into the hotel lobby. Sure enough, a young man was walking his mom down the aisle, as a hotel guest was checking in less than 5 feet away. One of my Skytresses questioned who would get married in a hotel lobby. I mentioned to her that everyone looked extremely happy….the bride, the groom, the young man and the Minister. I then turned to my fellow Skytress and said, “You have to get married somewhere “. This silly response seemed to make sense to everyone. A few minutes later we went back to our table and ate our fajitas. Fajitas definitely taste better when they are 50% off. But, they taste magnificent when they are 50% off and a hotel lobby wedding is thrown in for free.

The other hotel lobby wedding took place at the Holiday Inn in Flynt, Michigan. Once again, my crew was getting together to eat shortly after we arrived. We do love to eat at my airline! Anyhow, I decided I would take the stairs to the lobby to meet my crew. As I exited my room and started walking towards the stairs, I walked by several bridesmaids in the hall. I surmised they were getting ready to go to a wedding. Well, they were. I just didn’t know they would be following me down the stairs 3 minutes later for the actual wedding. Luckily, I was sitting on the couch in the hotel lobby waiting for my crew before the bridesmaids came down the stairs. As I sat on the couch, the first officer exited the hotel elevator. I know he didn’t expect to see people in the hotel lobby. It was empty minutes before when we checked in. He had a shocked look on his face when he saw all the nicely dressed people sitting in chairs. By this time, the groom and Minister were standing in front of the guests. The first officer walked past the man checking in at the front desk. He sat next to me on the couch. Before he could say anything, the music started. We watched the bridesmaids and bride come down the stairs. The Minister started to speak. As we sat on the couch in our layover clothes, the first officer turned to me and whispered, “Do you feel weird?” I whispered back, “Yes”. Before anymore of our crew members came down, the wedding was over. Our Skyter In-Charge came out of the elevator as everyone was applauding the married couple. He gave us a bewildered look as he walked towards us. Before he could say anything, the first officer informed the Skyter he had just missed the wedding. The Skyter surveyed the wedding party. He turned and observed the gentleman checking into the hotel. He then spun back to us and asked, “Who gets married in a hotel lobby?” I smiled at him and said, “You have to get married somewhere.”

I believe the phrase, “You have to get married somewhere”, started when my family and friends were in Ponce Inlet, Florida. Yes, we were on our annual vacation in Ponce Inlet. We decided one day to have lunch outside at a restaurant near the Ponce Inlet lighthouse. While the waitress was making her way around all our tables to get everyone’s orders, my friend noticed a couple a few tables down. She mentioned to those of us sitting next to her she thought the couple was about to get married. Sure enough they were. A short time later, as we sat eating our grouper sandwiches, the couple made their way to the end of the restaurant’s boardwalk. With the beautiful Atlantic Ocean behind them, they said their “I, do’s”. The wedding party consisted of the bride, the groom, the Minister and a friend or family member taking pictures of the ceremony. We all agreed that when the pictures were developed they would be beautiful. All anyone would ever see was the couple and the picturesque ocean behind them. No one would ever know, that a few feet away, a group of twenty-plus vacationers were eating their meals watching the couple get married. We wondered if the location the couple chose to get married was meaningful to them prior to their wedding. Some one in our group said, “You have to get married somewhere. It might as well be here with the ocean behind them”. I’ve used this saying many times since. I usually follow it up by saying, “It doesn’t matter where you get married….just as long as you are happy.” I truly mean this.

Many couples are deciding the, “You have to get married somewhere”, means a destination wedding. Throughout my career I’ve had many brides-to -be ask me if I could put their wedding dress in our coat closet. They always implore us to be careful not to wrinkle their dress. Some flights I have multiple dresses in my closet. Especially when I fly into Cancun or the Bahamas. I always try my best not to wrinkle the dresses. But, anyone who has seen our airplane’s coat closets, knows this is easier said than done. When brides fly home after their wedding, they have a completely different attitude. They happily tell us we can squish their wedding dress in the closet if we have, too. Now, squishing I can do! One time a bride deplaned without taking her wedding dress. We joked she changed her mind on our flight about getting married. One Skytress on my crew recalled how earlier in the flight I said “You have to get married somewhere”. She laughed and said the bride that left her dress, “didn’t want to get married ANYWHERE!”

Skytresses also have “to get proposed to somewhere”. A Skytress friend of mine got engaged on her layover. Her boyfriend went to our layover hotel and told the people at the front desk what he planned to do. They wholeheartedly helped him with his plan. When my friend arrived at the hotel, the people at the front desk told her they had a special room for her. As she headed to the elevator, they called her boyfriend in her hotel room. When the Skytress got to her door there was a diamond ring hanging from the door handle. She questioned her crew. Her boyfriend then opened the door and surprised her. He told her she not only had the key to her hotel room, she also had the key to his heart. He then got down on one knee and asked her to marry him.

Another Skytress proposal happen in the jetway in Dallas. This one I actually saw. We had an extra Dallas Skytress working our flight to Dallas. She was finishing her trip there. The deplaning process was very chaotic that day. We had several people needing wheelchair assistance and several children traveling alone that we had to walk off the airplane. Our pilots that flew us to Dallas were in the jetway briefing with our new pilots. While all this was going on, I noticed a young gentleman standing in the jetway with flowers. This was pre 9-11 when security wasn’t as strict. I asked the gentleman if he was waiting for someone. He said he was waiting for our Dallas Skytress. I went into the airplane and told the Skytress a gentleman was waiting in the jetway for her. She immediately walked out with me. She saw the bouquet of flowers. She sheepishly told me it was her boyfriend and then walked over to see him. The boyfriend gently took the Skytress to the side of the jetway and started to propose to her. I was flabbergasted and overjoyed at what I was seeing. The pilots were unaware of what was taking place merely feet away from them. They were still happily chattering away. I quickly went up to them and told them they were missing the proposal taking place next to them. They all stopped talking. The poor Skytress got embarrassed. She turned to us and explained she and her boyfriend had been living together for years. They had plans to get married. So, it wasn’t really a proposal. We begged to differ. Her boyfriend had flowers and a beautiful ring. We smiled and told her this was an actual proposal. We clapped and congratulated the couple. She got more embarrassed. She ran back into the plane and got her bags. Her fiancé waited awkwardly for her to return. They eventually walked up the jetway together. She was holding her flowers. He held her hand and pulled her suitcase up the jetway for her. I’m sure now when they tell the story of their proposal their memories are a wee bit sweeter and quite possibly more funny, as they recall the chaos in the jetway. I like to believe they are still married. I’m quite sure they had a beautiful wedding. I can only wonder where they got married. But, as you know by now,…”You have to get married somewhere”.

I’ve been sitting alone on my Skytress jumpseat a lot more than usual lately with our new COVID-19 protocols. Skytresses and Skyters are no longer sitting next to each other on the jumpseat. On some planes we actually are sitting in passenger seats. Our airline is very conscious about social distancing. I appreciate my company not only looking out for the passenger’s health, but, our health, as well. So, instead of congregating in the galley after our service,….these days, we usually head to our respective jumpseats and social distance from each other. Ah, the jumpseat. Passengers are extremely intrigued about our jumpseats. At times, their curiosity gets the best of them. For, they will blatantly stare at me as I sit on my Skytress jumpseat. Prior to COVID, on certain airplanes, I sat directly across from passengers. Our bodies would be inches away from each other. Yep, it was uncomfortable for everyone…..especially for me. For some reason, however, some passengers don’t mind if they are touching me with their body. I’ve always found this rather odd on their part. Then again, I am irresistible! On aircraft where my jumpseat is behind the passengers, people will completely turn around in their seats and stare at me, as if I am an animal at the zoo. I do try to ignore their stares, as I get myself settled on my Skytress jumpseat. However, most times I will smile back at them. I know they are curious. Especially, the children. A smile and a wave usually gets children out of their staring trance. They usually smile back and wave, too. When children stare back at me, I sometimes wonder if I am looking at a future Skytress or Skyter. I’ve heard too many stories from my fellow crew members to think otherwise. A fair number of them dreamed about becoming Skytresses or Skyters after watching the crew on their flights. On the other hand, occasionally when I’m being stared at, I can’t help myself….I stare right back at the passengers. It doesn’t matter if they are adults or children. I make it as awkward for them, as it is for me. It’s my own personal Skytress entertainment ….whoever stops staring first, wins. I’m proud to report, I’m very victorious with my Skytress jumpseat game!

When I sit on my jumpseat I have multiple things going through my head. After thirty years, I still sit down and repeat my evacuation commands over and over in my head. I also go through a mental review of what I need to do in an emergency. There is always a slight fear I will forget them if I don’t. Especially, if I haven’t been on a particular aircraft in awhile. Fortunately, I’ve never had to scream and shout these commands on a flight. I plan to retire with this lucky streak still intact.

I always say the same little prayer before take off and landing, as I sit strapped in on my jumpseat. Some people may think this is superstitious of me. But, I don’t think saying the prayer is superstitious. My prayer gives me peace. I’ve seen Skytresses and Skyters bless themselves after saying a prayer before take off and landing. It always makes me smile. I make the sign of the cross after my prayers, too. However, I make it in an inconspicuous way. Years ago, I started doing this particular sign of the cross. It gives me comfort….because I do it repeatedly as we take off and land. No one knows about this sign of the cross, but me and God. I like it this way. I feel like it is our special secret. I have another ritual on landing. I don’t know if other Skytresses or Skyters say a prayer for everyone on the plane. But, I do. I say my prayer as we taxi in. Many times I say a special prayer for a passenger or passengers that I have had a more in-depth conversation with on the plane. Passengers tell us many personal things. The good things, as well as, the difficult things. Sometimes words aren’t even necessary. Tears speak volumes.

I do some of my best thinking on my Skytress jumpseat. I am constantly pulling out my paper rotation and jotting down notes. I am forever writing down things I need to do in the lounge, on my layovers and at home. I’ve been known to write the same things down on multiple rotations. There are days I simply run out of time to complete my “to- do” list. Once in a while, I lose my paper rotations with my carefully thought out list. It used to upset me. I would look everywhere on the plane for my piece of paper. I’ve been known to flip my Skytress jumpseat open a hundred times…convinced my paper fell out of my pocket into the cracks of the jumpseat. Sometimes I’d find my paper in my Skytress jumpseat. Mostly when I opened the jumpseat, I’d only find old Biscoff cookie wrappers. These days when I lose my paper I just say, “Oh well”, and I laugh. I usually tell my crew, whoever finds the paper, is now required to do the things I have written down. It makes me happier to think this way. More importantly, it’s less stressful for me. I, also, used to write down positive sayings at the top of my rotations. I would read them every day as I sat on my jumpseat. These days I just THINK positive things as I sit on my jumpseat. Again, its less stressful. I always make a note on my paper rotations to remind me to list for my future jumpseats to go to work and to get home. Yes, I fly for free. Unfortunately, if there isn’t an open passenger seat, I won’t get on the flight. If I have listed for the extra jumpseat, I am almost guaranteed to be on my desired flight to work and back home. I have a designated time I can start listing for my jumpseat. My commuter friends can list for the same jumpseat at the same time, too. It’s a first come, first serve program. I make a note on my rotations so I can list for the jumpseat on time. Ironically, I usually forget to look at this important notation. Well,…I eventually look at the notation. Typically, I look at it 3 hours after I needed to list for my jumpseat! Fortunately, many of my fellow St. Louis commuters friends remember to list for the jumpseat 3 hours and 1 minute after me.

Ron and I loved to talk about sitting on the MD-88 and MD-90 jumpseats that faced the engines. It was common for these engines to spark and glow. We thought it was cool. Every once in a while, the passengers would see the sparks from the engines and their eyes would light up. They didn’t expect to see the powerful engines do that. It always made us laugh. Our MD-88 and MD-90 airplanes were retired this summer. I will miss them. These days, one of my favorite airplanes is the Airbus 321. I love sitting on the jumpseat at the 2 door. Passengers usually have their in-flight monitors on…either watching a movie or regular TV. I sit on my Skytress jumpseat and spy on what they are watching. Usually someone has something interesting on. I remember one day the Captain had us sit on our jumpseats for an extended amount of time. We had to fly around some bad weather. Only one person in front of me was watching a movie. It was a subtitled-foreign movie. I should say, an extremely boring…no plot whatsoever,…subtitled- foreign movie. It was all I could do to not tap the passenger on the shoulder and ask her to turn her dreadful movie off. I was so relieved when the Captain turned the seatbelt sign off and I had to go back to work.

I have many conversations with Ron and my Dad in my heart and in my head when I sit on my jumpseat. I always feel closer to them when I am in the sky. I usually ask them how things are going in Heaven. I always tell them I miss them. When Ron died, my Aunt Cathy said my Dad would be sitting on one airplane wing and Ron would be on the other wing. She said between the two of them they would keep me balanced and safe. I think of this many times when I am looking out my jumpseat window. Many days I’ll sit on my Skytress jumpseat and wonder if Ron and my Dad are sitting on my airplane’s wings. Other times, I wonder if they have opted to hang out on the beautiful clouds I see passing by from my jumpseat window. Either way, these thoughts make me smile.

Last year, on Ron and my anniversary, I was sitting alone on my Skytress jumpseat. I said to Ron it would be nice to get a sign from him on our anniversary. I told him I would love to get a penny from Heaven. I also mentioned I would love to get back to Atlanta early enough to make my earlier flight home. Unfortunately, on our last flight into Atlanta, we were coming in on time, and not extra-early like I had hoped. I resigned to the fact that I would be taking my later flight home to St. Louis. On our final descent, I told my crew I wouldn’t make my earlier flight home. When we got to the gate in Atlanta, I sauntered up to the boarding door after all the passengers had deplaned. To my delight, as I turned to get off the plane, there was a shiny penny sitting in the jetway inches from the airplane door. Boy, did it make me smile. I picked it up and told my Skytress friend Julie I got my penny from Ron in Heaven. She smiled, too. Julie knew Ron. Julie and I walked up the jetway together. She told me she was going to take the employee Shuttle on the B concourse to the employee parking lot. The stairs to the Shuttle were at B-18. This was the gate my earlier flight to St. Louis was going out of. As we walked up to B-18, I could see the agents were still working the earlier St. Louis flight. I asked them if I could still get on. They said yes and printed my boarding card. Julie and I looked at each other and laughed. I couldn’t believe I made my earlier flight home. My, my,….another anniversary gift from Ron! When I got home I went to the Farmer’s Market with my niece Jamie. Ron knew I loved going to the Farmer’s Market. We had a joke that I was going to the Farmer’s Market to….buy a farmer! It was a beautiful day at the Market. While we were there I found another penny from Ron in Heaven. Boy, did I feel Ron’s love on our special day. This week I sat on my Skytress jumpseat and I wondered what Ron was going to do for our anniversary this year. Whatever he sends my way will be filled with love and happiness. This I know for sure. I know I will think and marvel about it all day on Tuesday as I sit on my Skytress jumpseat. I’m sure I’ll have a passenger staring blatantly at me while I reminisce. They can stare at me all they want. My Skytress jumpseat game will be officially on. The last one to stare will once again be the winner. I’m confident I’ll be victorious once again as I sit on my jumpseat. After all, it is one of my favorite Skytress games!

I was preparing to work a flight to Tampa one afternoon. I was placing water bottles at the passenger’s seats in first class before we boarded the plane. The Captain walked into first class from the 2-left boarding door. He wanted to know if he could ask a favor of me. He told me retired Supreme Court Justice, Sandra Day O’Connor, was going to be on our flight. He asked me if I would invite Mrs. O’Connor to the cockpit when she arrived. He explained the first officer’s wife, Eileen Collins, was the first female commander of the Space Shuttle. The first office told the Captain he would love to get a picture with Mrs. O’Connor,….the first female Supreme Court Justice….but, he didn’t want to disturb her. My thoughts went in several directions when the Captain asked this request. I knew I had flown with the first officer before. It dawned on me, when we flew previously, we had talked about his wife….because his wife and I have the same first name. At the time, it also came up in conversation, in a very nonchalant way, that his wife was the first female commander of the Space Shuttle. I was completely amazed by his reverence when he spoke about his wife. He was extremely proud of his wife and her accomplishments. I had a thousand questions I wanted to ask him about his wife. I told him I had great admiration for her achievements in her career. I, also, expressed how exhilarating it must have been to fly in space. However, I figured he always talks about his wife when people find out who she is. I didn’t want to do that. Instead, I turned the conversation back to him. He was such a wonderful, laid back guy. He had a great sense of humor. I thoroughly enjoyed talking with him. When the Captain said first officer Pat didn’t want to bother Mrs. O’Connor, I completely understood. The other thought going through my mind was how excited I was to have Sandra Day O’Connor on our flight. You may remember from a previous post how I once wanted to be a Supreme Court Justice. I also thought about Mrs. O’Connor’s husband. Prior to his death, he had Alzheimer’s disease. While he was in the later stages of his disease, he befriended a woman at his facility. He and the woman, who also had Alzheimer’s, would hold hands. A reporter asked Mrs. O’Connor if the hand holding bothered her. Mrs. O’Connor said she was glad to see her husband showing affection again. The disease had once stole this from him. She knew, because of the disease, he didn’t understand what he was doing. She knew her husband would never do anything to hurt her. Her response amazed me. My respect for Mrs. O’Connor grew exponentially with her judicious understanding.

Mrs. O’Connor came on board and settled in her seat. I quietly addressed her. I explained the Captain would like for her to visit the cockpit ……if she didn’t mind. She didn’t. She sweetly followed me to the cockpit. I introduced her to the Captain and left. I admit, I stood within ear shot of their conversation. I thought how lovely it would be to sit down with Mrs. O’Connor and talk about her life. I knew it would be positively fascinating. The Captain introduced Mrs. O’Connor to first officer Pat. The Captain explained Pat’s wife was the first female commander of the Space Shuttle. Mrs. O’Connor’s voice lit up. They talked about his wife. She then inquired about the pilots and their flying. Finally, the Captain asked Mrs. O’Connor if she would mind taking a picture. She said she would love too. I smiled as I stood outside the cockpit. I knew the first-class passengers recognized Mrs. O’Connor as she came back to her seat. They were extremely considerate. They didn’t disturb her once during the flight. When we arrived in Tampa and we started to deplane, a gentleman asked Mrs. O’Connor how she was enjoying her retirement. She sweetly told him she was as busy as ever. She smiled and said she didn’t feel one bit retired. I was completely captivated by Mrs. O’Connor. Later when I was thinking about the flight, I kicked myself. I wish I had asked Mrs. O’Connor if I could get a picture with her. I know she would have graciously agreed. Oh well. You know me and pictures. At least I have a beautiful memory to cherish forever.

Eileen Collins is an exceptional pilot, as far as I am concerned. I would still believe this even if her name wasn’t Eileen. But, it does make me smile a wee bit more knowing she is an “Eileen”, too. I love seeing female pilots at our airline. I always think “Girl Power” when I see a female pilot in the cockpit. I am proud to say I fly with more female pilots every year. Most of our female pilots are first officers. I know it is just a matter of time before they become Captains and move to the left seat. I am elated when I fly with female Captains. I admire everything they have gone through to earn their Captain’s wings. They have my utmost respect for being a pilot in a predominantly male profession. I learned throughout my career, female pilots have an incredible cool factor to them. First they have the incredible knowledge and finesse to fly a commercial aircraft…..many soft touch downs come at the hands of female pilots. Secondly, I’ve learned, female pilots possess an impeccable sense of humor. It’s not gritty guy pilot humor I’ve become accustomed to hearing, either. After months of blog posts, you all undoubtedly know I love my airline. I’m blessed to work with extraordinary fellow employees. I may be biased, but, I believe we have the best crew’s in the industry. I’m extremely proud when we stand together as a crew. However, on the several occasions when I have flown with an all- female crew, I know I stood a little taller. I smiled a little bigger. I saw the shocked looks on the passengers faces as we walked down the concourse and got in and out of the hotel shuttles. I always wanted to say, “Yes. You are seeing correctly. We are an all-female crew.” I look forward to flying many more all-female crew trips in the near future. It will be girl power at it’s finest.

There is the saying that one person can change the world. Alice Ramsey exemplifies this statement. Alice retired this August from being a Skytress at our airline. However, like Sandra Day O’Connor, I know Alice will be as busy in retirement, as she ever was flying. Alice Ramsey is a breast cancer survivor. In 2007 she asked our CEO if she could get a pink uniform dress made to help raise money for the Breast Cancer Research Foundation. Our CEO agreed. Alice raised $3000. The next year 275 pink dresses were made available for Skytresses to wear in October. They sold out immediately. Eventually, more Skytress had the opportunity to purchase the pink dress. Skyters could purchase a pink tie to wear with their uniforms. October has become very pink at our airline. Several years ago, I started to notice other airlines wearing pink uniform pieces, as well. It made me smile. I think they were inspired by our airline. Unquestionably, we were all inspired by Alice. As I mentioned, Alice raised $3000 her first year wearing her pink dress. Since our airline started to raise money for the Foundation, it has raised over 16.8 million dollars. I know Alice’s pink dress helped propel the numbers exponentially upwards. I heard so many lovely stories about Alice from fellow Skytresses and Skyters. I hoped one day to have the pleasure of meeting her. Well, dream a little dream, I did. One day I went to my annual FAA training in Atlanta. As I sat at my table, I wondered if I would know anyone in my class. Low and behold I noticed Alice Ramsey was in my class. It was as if Elvis had entered the building. I watched Alice interact with everyone. She was vivacious and extremely kind. Her laughter was infectious. I remember Alice asked a friend in our class if she would like to come to a luncheon with her and her mother. Alice was to receive an award from the Governor and she didn’t want her Mom to sit alone. Alice’s friend teased her about having lunch with the Governor. “Only Alice”, she said. We all laughed. Including Alice. But, we knew Alice deserved to have lunch with the Governor. More importantly, we all knew it was actually going to be his honor to have lunch with her. Alice is not only a survivor,….she is the biggest cheerleader for everyone she encounters. I later told Alice how I admired everything she has done at our airline. She is a warrior for those fighting cancer and those who are survivors. Alice could not have been more gracious. She told me her story. She also gave me a packet that contained a rubber piece of material and a little nodule. Alice gives this out so people will know what she felt when she discovered her breast cancer. I could tell this is Alice’s mission in life….To make sure everyone has the gift of early detection. Alice is determined to beat cancer on multiple fronts. The next day in training Alice came in with a gift for everyone. She said she knew everyone was feeling stressed with the rigors of annual training. She wanted to bring everyone some luck. I was touched by her thoughtfulness. I also learned that day, Alice has an annual breast cancer fund raiser at her house. The money raised helps pay bills for those going through treatment. She has multiple giveaways at her fund raiser, too. People donate items because they love Alice and her cause. Alice, I learned, is the ultimate caretaker. This is why I know Alice is busy as ever in her retirement from our airline. I never had the pleasure of flying with Alice. I can only imagine she took great care of our passengers and her crew. I am so grateful I did meet Alice. I learned a lot from Alice in our short two days. Ultimately I learned Alice is girl power personified.

My second trip back flying this month I was sitting in the crew lounge working on my blog. I could hear two Skytresses near me talking. As the one Skytress was about to turn to go back to her chair, the other Skytress asked her what her name was. The Skytress replied, “Eileen”. I abruptly stopped typing and immediately looked up. For a moment, it was if Big Foot had made eye contact with the Loch Ness Monster. I curiously watched the Skytress sit down two chairs from me. You think I would have hesitated to tell her my name is Eileen, too. Nope. I didn’t. Rarely do I ever meet anyone that is named Eileen. When I spoke up and told the Skytress that my name is Eileen, she looked at me like the Loch Nest Monster had just spotted Big Foot. Of course, she asked me if I spelled my name E-i-l-e-e-n. If your name is Eileen, you would completely understand this. There are numerous spellings of our name. However, when you spell your name Eileen,…this without a doubt is the only acceptable spelling. We both chuckled after the Skytress asked me how I spell my name. Then we laughed even more when she said she didn’t like having this name as a child. I understood completely. We couldn’t buy any personalized items off the shelf. Everything had to be specially made. I used to wish my name was Kathleen when I was a child. It was Irish,…and you could always purchase a name tag for your bike at the store. She asked me if I knew Eileen meant, “light”. I smiled because I did. I told the Skytress I was named after my Mom’s sister. I told her I have several friends with the middle name Eileen. I, also told her, I’ve flown with many pilots who had Aunts named Eileen. My sister’s roommate in college was Eileen, too. But, I have never flown with another Eileen. She hadn’t either. However, she could name several Skytress from our airline with our name. I confessed to her I looked at the list of Skytresses in the retirement yearbook last week. The name list was complied using the first names in alphabetical order. I saw there were seven people named Eileen retiring. I was shocked. More importantly, I was happy. I now knew there are seven more Eileen’s out there lighting up the world.

One day I was flying from Detroit to Chicago. A Skytress for a regional airline came on board. She was deadheading to Chicago to work another flight. When she went to stow her bags her boarding card fell to the floor. I picked the ticket up and asked her if she would like her boarding card back. She said she didn’t need it. So I told her I would throw it away. As I was heading back to the galley, I looked at the boarding card to see the Skytress’ name. She was a very sweet young lady and I wanted to acknowledge her later using her first name. When I looked at her name I smiled. I couldn’t help myself. Her name was Sparkle Mars. What a happy name. I decided her name could be an expression someone would say to another person to have a great day. “Have a Sparkle Mars kind of day!” A person couldn’t help but smile after hearing this. I took a picture of the boarding card and texted it to Ron. I told him this was the name of a cute regional airline Skytress on my flight. I knew he would appreciate her name. Ron had a great sense of humor. And Ron loved astronomy. It was definitely a “twofer”. I told him to have a Sparkle Mars kind of day, because I was going to have one. He texted me back several smiling emojis. My new happy expression was already working magnificently.

I’m sure many of you will remember the red courtesy phones in the airports. Passengers were to pick the phone up to respond to a message from the airline. Passengers could also use the phone to page for someone in the airport. One day my crew and I were in Dallas on a sit. We didn’t want to go to the crew lounge and we didn’t want to go eat. We decided we would sit in the gate area and people watch. While we were sitting in the gate area, the airport PA system was paging for multiple passengers to pick up the red courtesy phone for a message. I told my crew I had once watched a comedian who did a skit about paging people with funny names in the hospital. This sparked something in my crew. We decided to page a few people, too. We wrestled with a few names. Eventually, our Skytress In-Charge went to the courtesy phone and paged Jim Shoe. Then we sat and waited. Over the airport PA we heard….”Passenger Shoe. Passenger Jim Shoe please pick up the red courtesy phone for a message”. We were beside ourselves laughing. We wondered how many people would get “gym shoe”? We knew someone must have heard the page and laughed. Then we paged Seymour Butts. We couldn’t control ourselves. We doubled over in our seats. The page for Seymour Butts and Jim Shoe had us four Skytresses cackling as passengers walked by. The passengers couldn’t help but smiled at us having a good time. Little did they know what we were up to. We then paged for Robin Banks. The best thing about the red courtesy phone was the airline would page the passengers for several minutes. To our delight, Jim Shoe and Seymour Butts and Robin Banks echoed throughout the Dallas airport. We figured the lady announcing the names had to be catching on. We stopped ourselves from paging for Saddam Hussein. Saddam Hussein was missing after the US-led invasion of Iraq. Everyone was looking for the dictator. We joked it could be possible the dictator was in the Dallas airport flying somewhere to evade being captured. Gratefully we recovered quickly from our laughing endorphin high. We wisely decided it was better to let the military find Saddam and for us not to lose our jobs.

Growing up we used to say the name Archibald McNulty for a curse word. My mom had heard the name when she was younger. She thought the name sounded like a curse word if you said it with the right tone. We weren’t allowed to curse when we were younger. But, we could say Archibald McNulty. So, we did. One day I was flying and I told this story to another Skytress. She loved the name Archibald McNulty and the story behind it. So, for three days she would pick up the airplane PA and page for Archibald McNulty. I giggled each time she made the PA. Then one day I was flying with my Skyter friend, Brian. Our first officer’s last name was McNulty. I told Brian the story about Archibald McNulty being a curse word in my family. Brian laughed. A few minutes later Brian was getting something out of one of our carts. When he stood up he forgot the retractable counter was extended. He hit the counter top with the top of his head. It made an awful sound. Without hesitation Brian said “Sean McNulty!” Sean McNulty was the first officer’s name. Brian said “Sean McNulty” was a much worse curse name than Archibald McNulty. Brian and I really laughed when he said this. We joked about “Sean McNulty” for the rest of the flight. I told Brian I was going to tell the first officer we were using his name as a curse word when we landed. Unfortunately, the pilots had a short turn time. The first officer went to the next airplane before I could tell him about the curse word. When our new pilots arrived Brian and I were goofing off and saying, “Sean McNulty” repeatedly. The Captain heard us saying “Sean McNulty”. He turned to us and said….”Sean McNulty? I know Sean McNulty. He’s a great guy”. Brian and I laughed even more. I told the Captain we were using his name as a curse word. I explained the Archibald McNulty story. I told the Captain Sean was a very nice guy. I felt a wee bit guilty using his name as a curse word. Several months later I flew with THE Sean McNulty. I told him the whole story about his name. He had a great sense of humor. He laughed. Whenever Brian sees the last name “McNulty” he will take a picture and text it to me. Fortunately for us there are a few “McNulty’s, at our airline. Sadly, we have yet to find an Archibald McNulty. And to that I say, “Archibald McNulty!!!”

When I was little my family moved from Butte, MT to Cincinnati, OH. We all thought we moved because my Dad was transferred with his job. Really we got transferred because God wanted me to meet my two best friends, Tara and Shannon. Tara can tell you all about the day we met. Tara is three days younger than me. Therefore, she has a better memory. Shannon and Tara are sisters. Tara is a year older than Shannon. We have been friends for 50 years now. Tara and I will be 54 in November. Yes, we three have been friends since we were wee little ones. Fifty years of friendship makes us sound awfully old. However, we all agree that laughter helps keep a person young. Fifty years of laughter has made us EXTREMELY young! You all can laugh at that comment. We will. It will make us at least a day younger.

Tara and Shannon came to visit us the day we moved into our house. They wanted to see if there were any kids in the new house they could play with. Lucky for all three of us, I was a kid….and I liked to play. The three of us played just about every day. We played with our dolls and barbies. We rode bikes and played with hoopla hoops. We played on our swing sets. We played school. We talked about our favorite Cincinnati Reds players as we hung out at the bar. Seriously, we did. Shannon and Tara’s Dad was the Ticket Director for the Cincinnati Reds. They had a custom-made bar in their house. The stools were made from Major League Baseball bats and bases. The top of the bar had a diagram of Riverfront Stadium inset in the top, along with tickets from All-Star Games, Play-off games and World Series games. We would sit at the bar and laugh and play. When Reds Manager Sparky Anderson came over, we would giggle and spy on him. He was a very kind man. I remember occasions when he signed his autograph on stacks of colored index cards for us, our sisters, my brother and numerous kids in the neighborhood. But, that is a story for another time. Rather, another blog post.

Without delay, I need to tell you about one of Tara’s favorite childhood memories. Actually, Tara would INSIST I tell you this story…..even though she tells it so much better than I do. One thing I love about Tara is, she loves a funny story. It doesn’t matter that it is at her expense, either. That actually makes Tara laugh even more. Who wouldn’t love a friend like that? One day Tara, Shannon and I were going to playing at my house. Tara was all dressed up because she was going to a birthday party later that day. Tara and Shannon were standing at the front door of our house ready to come in to play. My Mom was holding a glass of water when they came to the door. My Mom told Tara she looked really nice all dressed up. My mom then teased Tara that she was going to throw her glass of water on Tara’s nice birthday outfit. Tara and my Mom loved to tease each other, even when Tara was really young. Tara called my Mom’s bluff. She told my Mom to go ahead and throw the water at her. To my shock, my Mom did just that. Water went all over Tara’s party dress. I was stunned. Tara laughed. My Mom laughed. They thought it was the funniest thing ever. They still do. Tara and my Mom have an odd sense of humor. That’s why I love them both so much.

Shannon was very shy as a child. Tara was a great big sister and did most of the talking for her. One day we were at the Cincinnati Reds game. The guys behind us were a lively group. They went on and on about how delicious their peanuts were that they were eating. Even as kids we thought this was rather strange. We gave each other the, “those men are crazy look” and kept watching the game. Then one of the guys dropped his cigar. He asked Shannon to pick it up for him. He keep saying, “Little girl. Little girl. Will you pick my cigar up for me?” Shannon ignored him. The man told his buddies it was obvious the “little girl” didn’t speak to strangers. Well, she didn’t. She barely spoke to people she knew. I’m glad to say Shannon found her voice as she got older. She is a fabulous conversationalist. We talk about anything and everything. Shannon also learned not to be afraid to speak her mind either. She can actually be very feisty. Especially when it involves speaking up for, and protecting her children. She is a marvelous Mama Bear. These days Shannon would have turned around to those men at the baseball game and said something very witty. Those men would have instantly fallen in love with her. Oh, by the way, when we got home from the baseball game and I took my coat off….tons of peanut shells fell out of the hood of my coat. Shannon may have not spoken much when she was younger. But, boy…. she could laugh.

The Farrell’s moved away to Cleveland when Tara and I were in kindergarten. Their Dad went to work for the Cleveland Indians. Fortunately, our parents were great friends, too. Our families would visit each other often. The three of us, along with our sisters and my brother, Sean, would create our own fun. We would have dance contests in my brother Sean’s bedroom. We would put a black light in the lamp and blast the music. The best dancers would win. My brother never won. We girls made him dance with his purple stuffed frog. We also loved to put on a show for our parents. It was usually based on Snoopy and the Peanuts gang. We always ended the show with a dance finale. I know Shannon, Tara and I could still dance the “Locomotion” with very little preparation. Sadly, my go-to-dance moves these days are heavily based on my “Locomotion” dance moves from years ago.

Our families continued to visit each other even after the Farrell’s moved to Atlanta and my family moved to Pittsburg and then to St. Louis. It definitely helped that Shannon and Tara’s mom went to work for the airline. We would spend numerous weekends, holidays and summers together. Our two families morphed into one big family. If we weren’t visiting each other, Tara, Shannon and I would spend hours talking on the phone. We also loved to send each other letters…inside on the paper ….and outside on the envelope. We would write so many things on the outside of our envelopes it was a wonder the mailman could read the address. One summer we decided we would learn to speak Hawaiian. Well, as much Hawaiian as we could learn from the World Book Encyclopedia,…Aloha, Pehea ‘oe?….Hello, how are you? Yes, we were fascinatingly fun young ladies. Well, at least we thought we were. When we were younger we also loved to throw fascinating parties. Especially ones with a fabulous theme. We may not have been formally invited by Queen Elizabeth to attended the Royal Wedding with Charles and Diana. But, we threw a party in their honor anyway. We all dressed up. Tara decided to come as the Royal Tramp. But, a classy one. We celebrated the Americans at the 1984 Olympics, too. Shannon came as an American Luge Olympian. She even wore her socks to look like the booties on the uniform of the Luger. Her socks may not have looked exactly like Luge booties, but I assure you they were extremely aerodynamic. Of course, a party wouldn’t be a party without food. Our party food always included Tara’s favorite….lemon bars…and everyone’s favorite….M&M cookies. Many times we had to make two batches of cookies. The first batch we usually ate so much of the cookie dough we didn’t have enough batter to make the actual cookies. It wasn’t just a life of parties for us. No, when we were old enough to drive, and I visited the girls in Atlanta, we would go to the Atlanta Airport and ride the trains between concourses. Yes, we were hooligans! Tara and Shannon were responsible hooligans, though. They had jobs. They both worked several years at Partner’s Pizza in Peachtree City. We all loved Partners. Any time I would visit and Shannon and Tara weren’t working, we would hang out there with their friends. The pizza was award winning and so were their friends.

You may remember in a previous post that my beloved Ron was adamant that our paths crossed at the beach when we were younger. I know if Ron saw me at the beach…he most definitely saw Shannon and Tara. There hasn’t been a time when I wasn’t there without them. We would spend endless hours at the beach in Ponce Inlet. We would have dinner at Aunt Catfish’s or grouper sandwiches at Our Deck Down Under. We’d go into Daytona to the boardwalk if we were feeling crazy and ride the rides. Again the hooligans in us! We would pick out the less favorable hotels along the beach in Daytona and proudly say we owned them. When we were out driving, we would make their mom sit next to their dad in the car. Then we would duck down on the seats so people would think their parents were on a cheeky date. This was beyond hysterical to us when we were younger. Most afternoons would walk the beach and tell each other how we would redesign the houses we past. We had our own ideas on how to make them more beautiful. Years later, with husbands and kids now part of our lives, we walked these same beaches before the sunrise and admired the natural beauty God placed before us. No redesigns were necessary.

Yes, Tara and Shannon have their own families now. They have amazing kids. Their kids all inherited the things I love most about their moms. Their children are kind, smart, generous, and extremely funny. They also share their mother’s impeccable sense of style….both with fashion and with interior design. When Shannon’s daughter was five, she and I picked out the tile for my new house together. I laugh about this now. But, Ellen was spot on with her design selections. I happily paid Ellen’s design consultation fee with cookies from the bakery. Not surprisingly, both Tara and Shannon’s husbands are as generous and giving as them. They treat their wives exceptionally well. Tara and Shannon have been blessed with marvelous husbands. Ivan and Jay have blessed me with their unselfish generosity many times. More importantly they have blessed me with their friendship. I also love the fact that Ivan and Jay love to host amazing parties. This is a great attribute in all our books. You know how we three ladies have always loved a great party.

A few weeks ago I was making a Kentucky Derby theme dinner. I know this doesn’t come as a surprise to you since you know my love for the Kentucky Derby. Anyhow, I had a Willie Nelson song in my head. I asked our Alexa device to play some Willie Nelson songs. As I was cutting the tomatoes for my hot brown sandwiches, the song “Unfair, Weather Friend” with Willie and Merle Haggard started to play. I never heard this song before. The beautiful lyrics traveled straight to my soul. I began to cry. The song is about life-long friends that are their for you when you need them most. Especially, when life is unfair. I’ve listened to this song numerous times since and each time I cry. Shannon and Tara have faithfully been by my side when life has been spectacular. More importantly, they have been by my side when life has been unfair. They are my, “unfair, weather friends”. When I wrote my blog post about the day Ron died, I mentioned I texted my friends before I got on my plane to go home. Those friends were Tara and Shannon. I turned my phone off because I knew they would immediately be there for me. I didn’t want to reveal my broken heart to everyone in the gatehouse. But, when I got home to St. Louis, they both had left messages. A short time later they both cried with me …and for me …when when we talked more about Ron’s untimely passing. Willie Nelson sings….”Sometimes this whole world is my worst enemy. …And I know where to run when it gets to me….No one else but you can make it all make sense….My come whatever, unfair weather friend”. These lyrics capsulize the power of their friendship for me. My sweet dear friends have gently held my broken heart with me. Their unwavering love calms the erratic rhythm of my heartbeat even now when I have my hard days. Their love and laughter constantly remind me life is still incredible….even without my beloved Ron here with me. Yes, my life is absolutely incredible because God blessed me with Tara and Shannon.

I will eventually tell you more stories encompassing our fifty years of friendship. I’ll fill you in on Tara’s bionic hearing. I tell you about the girls teaching me to drive a stick shift. I wouldn’t deny you the funny story of us teaching our parents how to toilet paper a house. For now, I will leave you with a story that gave the three of us a hearty laugh recently. Tara and her family live in Maryland now. When COVID-19 was new and everyone went into quarantine, Tara used the Grubhub app to order food to be delivered to her Mom in Atlanta. Well, this particular June evening, Tara decided to order food for her family using the Grubhub app. A short time later Tara looked at her app and it said her food had been delivered. So, she asked her son Michael to go get the food on the porch. Surprisingly, the food wasn’t there. Tara checked the app again. Again she read that the food had been delivered. …It was delivered….It was delivered to her Mom in Atlanta! A few minutes later Tara’s Mom called asking Tara why on Earth Tara would order her so much food! Tara texted me right after her Mom called. We both couldn’t stop laughing. Weeks later this story still makes me laugh. I can only imagine the future funny stories we will share in the coming days and years. I know the laughter will keep us forever young. My life is forever exciting with my two best friends in it…..fifty years of friendship has most definitely been a testament to this fact.

I’m sitting here in my crew lounge wondering where the past six months have gone. It feels like yesterday I was heading home to start my vacation wondering what was going to happen to the world with COVID-19. Never could I imagine all that has happened. I am so grateful I was able to take the time off from flying and be there for my family. Not surprisingly, I didn’t sleep well last night before my first trip back flying. After thirty years of flying, I was extremely nervous about going to work. When I pulled into the employee parking lot I was shocked. There were very few cars. Usually, I have to park all the way at the end of an aisle. Today I parked next to the bus stop. There were only two other cars in the aisle with me. Happily, the shuttle driver still welcomed me aboard and then told me to have a safe flight as I left to go inside the airport. My St. Louis gate agents were still manning their posts…and as friendly as ever. I learned 20 St. Louis agents took the retirement package. I wasn’t shocked to hear this, but, it still made me sad. I admit, I did listen to all the PA’s the gate agents made in the gatehouse. We are now boarding from the back of the plane to the front of the plane. Once on the plane I listened intently to the PA’s the Skytresses made. So much has changed since I last flew. On deplaning passengers stay seated until the row ahead of them has retrieved their bags and are six feet ahead in the aisle. Amazingly, passengers adhered to this new deplaning procedure.

When I arrived in the crew lounge I saw boxes of face masks at the duty desk. One of the conference rooms is now a mandatory temperature check room. The health room where our on-site physical therapist treats Skytresses and Skyters is now a rapid COVID-19 test center for all employees. In 15 minutes any employee can find out if they have the virus. Our airline wants to continuously check the employees for the virus. Employees are also being tested for the COVID-19 antibodies. I, myself, go on Monday for this test. Our company is working in tandem with the Mayo Clinic to keep statistics on all the employees during COVID-19. After seeing all the changes in the lounge, I did spy several friends. Boy, it’s hard to recognize people with their face masks on and everyone in the same uniform. Almost everyone I encountered was returning to work for the first time, too. Many have vacation this month like me. We all decided flying only a couple trips this month would be a great way to ease back into flying. Looking around the crew lounge I dearly miss my friends that have retired. Many of my other friends are off on an extended company leave. I can’t wait until they come back to fly, too.

As, I write this,….I still have yet to work one of my flights. Yes, I’m sitting in the crew lounge a few hours before my trip. This part of my commute definitely hasn’t changed. I’m praying I have a good crew. Both of my Skytresses have the same first name. It can’t get much easier than that! Hopefully, at least one of them has flown a trip with the new protocols. As Ron would say, I feel discombobulated today. I feel like a new-hire Skytress. Tomorrow I’m sure I’ll feel like my old self. I’m not sure if that is a good thing or a bad thing. I’ll let you know in the next paragraph.

So,….I made it through my first day of flying. My crew has been fabulous. Actually, fabulous is an understatement. These Skytresses have been flying all through COVID-19. Shockingly, they are both commuters. They earned my respect for getting to the airport when there were hardly any flights to commute on. These ladies are a wee bit senior to me. They have been beyond gracious showing me the new ropes. I struggled a wee bit trying to incorporate the old ways with the new ways. Even though the new ways are exceedingly easier than the old ways.

I definitely made a few observations my first day back flying. First, the airport had a lot more people than I expected. This is great news for our ailing airline industry. My fellow Skytresses told me they saw more business people flying on Tuesday. I like to think the passengers have come back flying because I am finally back flying. However, I’m sure many are like me and feel it’s time to get down to business and get flying again. I’ve found the airports are very quiet. There are definitely less passengers. I guess face masks are another reason there is less noise, too. I know many of us have discovered these past few months that face masks muffle even the loudest of talkers. I noticed many airport shops and eateries are not open, yet. This is adding to the lack of noise. Also the constant beeping of the electric carts is missing. I don’t miss that noise at all! Wheel chair attendants also aren’t bustling from gate to gate. It is evident people with health issues are staying home. I completely understand. Social distancing is keeping the once lively banter of fellow travelers to a minimum….both in the airport and on the airplane. Seats are blocked in the gate house areas, as well as, on our airplanes. Even the banter between employees is missing. The pilots give a friendly briefing and then head to the cockpit. I am very cognizant they are in tight quarters in the cockpit. So, I haven’t spoken to them much. Even our interactions with the passengers has been altered. I no longer have to repeat our snack selection to each passenger. I simply ask them if they would like a snack bag. The ziplock snack bag contains a bottle of water, several snacks and a hand sanitizer. Our in-flight service only takes four minutes to complete. Passengers are gracious to get the snack bag….then are happy to see me move along. Everyone is concerned about social distancing. They are rightly concerned about their health and safety. They are also concerned about our health and safety, too. I truly appreciate their concern. Another missing familiar sound is the constant clanging of beverage carts and supply carriers. Most carriers are no longer boarded since we currently don’t need them. We no longer have coffee or coffee pots. Basically, there is nothing to set up. The awful sound of ice being pounded in the galley is also missing. There isn’t the rustling of ice being scooped into glasses either. There isn’t a cane of soda or a can of juice to pop open. Ice, soda and juice cans have been removed from the aircraft.

To my amazement, there isn’t a rush to board the airplanes. Cleanliness is our number one priority. The agents and crew have to be happy with the cleanliness of the airplane before anyone boards. If there is any issue, the cleaning team comes back before one passenger steps on the plane. This is why so many people are flying our airline. They know we have strict policies in place. Airplanes get sanitized before every flight with a fogging machine that kills COVID-19. In addition to the hand sanitizer in the snack bags, passengers are handed a sanitizing wipe as they board. Everyone on my flights has been compliant with the face mask and face covering requirements. The crew’s are also wearing masks and gloves for protection. Like many people, I’ve learned wearing a mask from 5:30 am to 9:30 pm makes the back of your ears hurt. I’ve also learned, rather quickly, that the plastic gloves impede with typing and swiping on our company issued electronic devices. Needless to say, I’ve washed, wiped and sanitized more things than I ever had in one day at work. When I got to my hotel room I repeated the process.

The second day of my trip went much better. I actually felt like a rested thirty- year Skytress! It helped that I got to sleep in after my first day of flying. Eventually, I was woken to a text from my friend telling me to look at my seniority number. I jumped almost 2900 numbers with all the retirements. I was pleasantly shocked. In the grand scheme of things I am still in the middle of Skytress seniority. Now I just have to figure out how the new seniority numbers coincide with everyone’s hire date. The most junior person jumped 4000 numbers. But, they are still the most junior person who graduated in March. ….Which I learned yesterday is called “the COVID Class”.

Okay, you are now reading a new paragraph. But, a lot has happened. I flew home to St. Louis between my two trips. I’m on a new trip with a new crew of Skytresses. I have another great crew. But, I’m starting to wonder if after COVID -19 I will recognize my fellow crew members without their masks. Times are sure mixed up right now. I did watch the Clemson football team deplane next to us when we were in Greensboro. Their players were all wearing nice suits. They all had face masks on and clear face shields. As I watched the players through the cockpit window, I was talking with our first officer. He told me he would be furloughed starting October 1st. He was former military and was hired by our airline last year. He hopes he won’t be furloughed too long. He is very optimistic. I am going to be optimistic, too.

Another new paragraph…another new day. Yesterday was 9-11. I watched an incredibly moving video in my hotel room late at night when I couldn’t sleep. A Skytress friend posted the video on Facebook about the Flight 93 National Memorial located just outside of Shanksville, Pennsylvania. I encourage everyone to watch it. It was informative and extremely touching. I am determined one day to visit the museum and pay my respect to those heroes. After I watched the video, I saw another 9-11 post from another Skytress friend. This post was about the thirty- three crew members that died on 9-11. I learned so many lovely personal details about each person. When I started to read the comments I broke down crying. Below the pictures of each crew member, were comments from their friends at American Airlines and United Airlines. As I read the comments, I could feel how they dearly missed their friends. Their hearts were broken. My heart broke for them.

It’s Sunday evening now. Boy, we have been on such a journey in this blog post! I am so relieved these past two trips went well. I’m now officially on vacation again. I will not fly until October. I am glad I went back flying this week. I faced a fear and I am glad I did. It was great to get back to my Skytress life. However, I haven’t forgotten I had six months off from flying, either. After six days of flying, I miss that life, too. I wanted to come back to fly and show myself that COVID-19 didn’t beat me. COVID-19 changed my Skytress life, but, it didn’t rob me of my Skytress career. But, by coming back to fly this week, I also learned I could peacefully walk away from flying, too. I had a taste of life outside of flying. It tasted good. I’m not sure how COVID-19 will continue to affect my world in the coming months. But, I am at peace. I’ve decided after flying these past six days …. I have nothing but blue skies whether that be on the ground or at 35,000 feet.

This Friday will be the nineteenth anniversary of 9-11. The other day when I was looking for pictures of my sister for my blog post about her, three pictures of the World Trade Center Twin Towers in New York fell to the ground. I took these pictures when my family went back East. My sister Patti was running in the NYC marathon. We went to New York to cheer her on and to visit our relatives. I remember I loved the pictures of the towers when I got them developed. Now, I look at them and I am sad….and I remember. I remember September 11, 2001, like it was yesterday. I can no longer look at pictures of the airplanes hitting the towers. I turn my head. Though we may all fly for different airlines, we in the airline industry consider each other family. Thirty-three of our family members died on 9-11. This week I will again wear my 9-11 airline pin in honor of each crew member.

For several years after the terrorist attacks, I chose not to fly on September 11th. I know I am not the only one. I have talked to numerous crew members that didn’t and still don’t fly on the 11th. I, fortunately, was not flying on 9-11. I had transferred from Atlanta to Cincinnati and I had to switch my vacation dates. I had just moved into my new house in Cincinnati, so I changed my October vacation to September. The morning of September 11, I was heading across town to go to physical therapy to treat a bulging disk. I had the radio on in my car. I remember the DJ’s talking about a plane hitting the World Trade Center. I thought they were doing a skit like Orson Welles’, “War of the Worlds”, where martians invade the Earth. I couldn’t believe a radio station would air a skit as tasteless as this. I turned the radio off in disgust. When I entered the Medical building for therapy every one asked me if I heard what had happened. They all knew I was a Skytress. I stood in disbelief with them as we watched the television. When I got home I had numerous messages from friends checking to see if I was flying that day. I called them back as the cable man hooked up my TV cable for the first time in my new home. Then I sat for days by myself watching Peter Jennings on ABC World News Tonight. He talked and I cried. Everyone in my neighborhood lit candles and placed them on our porches at night. We all hung out our American flags. These were simple gestures to express our utter sadness….and our resilience as a nation.

I was in Atlanta days before 9-11 with my friends and my family. My best friend, Tara, a Skytress for United, was married on September 8th. There were several people from her airline and my airline in Atlanta for the wedding. Our friend, John, a Secret Service Agent on President Bush’s detail, was also there for the wedding. We all made it back to our respective homes before 9-11 and before the skies went quiet. Needless to say, my heart ached for my friends that flew for United. Tara told me American Airlines sent a flower wreath to their crew lounge. I can’t imagine how powerful that was to see. I thought about that days later when I was in our crew lounge preparing for my first trip after the terrorist attacks. I remember walking by our duty desk in our crew lounge. Skytresses and Skyters were calling in to get off their trips. No questions were asked when they called in. Everyone understood. I went to my flight with my crew. Our crew briefing with the pilots was like no other. John’s email warning me to be careful and keep my eyes open for anything usual had me on full alert. However, I quickly felt empowered when the handful of passengers came on the airplane. Even though we were all nervous about flying for the first time after the attacks, I knew with certainty they were now part of our crew. We all had each other’s backs if anything happened on the flight. Several weeks later, I was flying when American Airlines flight 587 crashed in New York City. I remember our Skytress-In Charge was called to the cockpit. The pilots told her a plane had gone down in NYC. They suspected it was an accident, but the FAA wasn’t sure it wasn’t another terrorist attack. They told her we were over Atlanta, so if we had to land, Atlanta would be our airport. I can honestly say when our Skytress-In Charge first told us this, I thought I was going to be sick. It took me a moment to regain my composure. I felt guilty for hoping it was just a plane crash. The passengers had no idea about the American airplane. We Skytresses acted as if everything was normal, but we started to develop an action plan just in case. Thankfully we landed in Cincinnati without any incident.

The topic of conversation for our crews the next few days and weeks centered around whether you were flying on September 11th. I flew with one Skyter that went out on a one day trip with no luggage. He got grounded in Boise, Idaho for a few days. He told me every morning he would go to the sports bar behind the hotel and buy a $2 sports team t-shirt to wear for the day. Then there was the story of the Cincinnati Skytresses thinking outside the box for getting home from Atlanta. They knew renting a car was no longer an option…..all cars had been rented. They decided to rent a U-Hall van. A passenger on their flight drove them to the U-Hall facility. They made it home safely. I flew with another Atlanta Skytress that told me her daughter and a pilot’s son were taken to the principal’s office on 9-11 and were told what had happened to the World Trade Center towers. She said the principal wanted to put the children at ease that their parents were not on the airplanes. It only made them more scared that something could happen to their parents that day, too. Her story definitely made me wonder about all the other experiences the children of airline employees across the world encountered on that awful day.

I flew with another Skytress that was at Reagan Airport in Washington D.C. on 9-11. She said she and the first officer were out walking the concourse between flights. They could see smoke outside. They thought it was just a big fire. Then there was an announcement that passengers needed to evacuate the airport. Airline crews were to report to a designated area. The Skytress said they were told about the airplanes hitting the towers and the smoke they were seeing was from another plane hitting the Pentagon. There was great concern that the airport could be another target, so they needed to evacuate, too. She told me all the crews left the airport and walked to the airport hotel. She said people were evacuating the city in their cars en mass as they walked along the roads to the hotel. She, also informed me, to this day she never leaves the plane without water. She explained it was a warm day in D.C. She told me she became extremely thirsty walking with all her bags to the hotel. No one thought about bringing water for the hot walk. They were in shock and just wanted to get away from the airport. When they arrived at the hotel one of our airline Captains took a copy of each crew’s flight rotations to call the company and tell them who was at the hotel. The Skytress said they could smell the jet fuel and smoke the whole time they were there. She recalled how she quietly sat in her hotel room and listen to the fighter jets continuously fly overhead. I thought about this story several years later when I was in D.C. the night before 9-11. I had flown on other 9-11’s and I never had an issue. That night I started to have a panic attack. I was in the same hotel as the Skytress had been staying in on 9-11. I could hear airplanes flying overhead. I worried about someone defiantly crashing one of those planes into the airport. I texted Ron that I couldn’t sleep. He asked me why. I told him I was in D.C. and tomorrow was 9-11. He told me he understood. He sent me some funny texts to ease my mind. Then he called me to check on me. He gave me some breathing techniques to use so I could calm my nerves and go to sleep. Hours later, I standing was in the crew security line at the airport. The passenger security line was next to us. Several passengers were wearing 9-11 pins and 9-11 patriotic shirts. We silently acknowledged each other and the fact that it was 9-11. No one on my crew said anything about it being September 11th. On the last leg of our day, our young Skyter-In Charge came back in the plane and asked us if we knew it was September 11th. He completely forgot until a passenger said something. The rest of us Skytresses knew it was 9-11. Unlike him, we all were flying in 2001. We Skytresses had been thinking about it all day. No one wanted to say anything. We all decided separately that we wanted to quietly make it through the day.

I remember when the National September 11 Memorial and Museum was first opened in New York. The lines into the memorial were long. However, if you were an airline crew member you were able to go in before other visitors. This was a small way the memorial recognized the airline crews as being the first responders on 9-11. Our security training since 9-11 has changed drastically. This is largely in part because of what we know the crews and passengers on United and American did to try to stop the hijackings. I like to remind younger Skytresses and Skyters what our protocols were prior to 9-11. I like to tell them about the strict procedures we had to follow flying into certain cities, such as Washington D.C., right after the terrorist attacks. I wear my 9-11 pin so the younger generation of Skytresses and Skyters will know that we must always honor those crews that died on 9-11. Friday as I fly my trip, I will look out the airplane window and say a prayer for all those who died on September 11th. I will pray for all those who mourn them. I will say an extra prayer for the crews of American Flight # 11, United Flight 175, American Flight #77, and United Flight #93. After all, we are family and I will forever honor and remember them.