The Rerouted Skytress

I flew to Atlanta on Sunday, January 24th for my annual Skytress training. I had to be at the training center the next morning at 610am. I had been dreading going to training since I got my annual Skytress training email in November. If you are, or ever were, a Skytress or Skyter, you definitely understand the fact my stomach had been doing flips all week long. My nerves were becoming more frayed as my training date approached. I tried to study one last time on my flight to Atlanta. But, my brain didn’t want to cooperate anymore. It was tired from my marathon week of studying. I closed my study guide. I closed my eyes. And I thought about Ron.

My last day I saw Ron alive we went through his emergency airplane door drills. He had his annual Skyter training coming up. Just like me, he was nervous about training. He asked me to shout out the pilot emergency commands and he would go through the motions of evacuating the airplane. We reviewed each aircraft. Ron was flawless with his evacuation drills. Understandably, he was still nervous about executing the drills perfectly at training. I gave him a reassuring hug. Annual training has a way of making the most confident person feel scared of failing. Looking back on that day, I wished we had hugged many more times than we did. Sadly, even if we hugged a million times that day, it wouldn’t have been enough to sustain me for the days that have followed. I clearly remember we held hands a lot that day. I remember feeling the callouses on Ron’s hands as our fingers entwined. It’s silly, but, I always liked to gently rub his callouses with my thumb. It always made me smile. Yes. It’s a sweet memory now. I, undoubtedly, remember our last kisses. Especially our final kiss. If I had known it would be our last, I would have kissed him longer. When we said our goodbyes that day we held our gaze a little longer than usual. I recall we smiled sweetly at each other. Neither of us spoke. We simply smiled. Then in unison we gently waved goodbye.

As I sat on my flight to Atlanta, I recalled how Ron always reassured me when I was nervous about my annual Skytress training. He would repeatedly say, “You’re a smart girl. You are going to do just fine”. I tried to let his words wash over me as we made our final descent into Atlanta. Then, I gave myself my annual Skytress training pep talk. “You get nervous each year. But, each year you pass training. You’ve studied. You know this material.” “Believe and know that everything will be okay.” “If you happen to fail, you can retire.” This last thought made me laugh. Then my nerves kicked in. I reminded myself I might be a thirty- year Skytress, but, I was definitely too young to retire!

Fortunately, when I got to the hotel the NFL playoff games were on TV. It was a welcomed distraction. I fell asleep once the football games were over. Then two hours later I woke up. I tossed and turned the rest of the night. Each time I woke up I went through my evacuation commands. I wasn’t the only one that had a restless night sleeping. At 540am I went downstairs to the lobby and met up with the other Skytresses and Skyters going to training. Everyone was exhausted. Nobody had slept well through the night. Our sleep-deprived bodies yearned to be on our flights home.

I wasn’t sure what to expect when I first walked into the training center. I knew things would be different because of COVID-19. Yes, things were different. There were multiple signs reminding everyone about social distancing and wearing masks. Chairs and tables were placed at least six-feet apart. There were distancing markers placed on the floors throughout the building. Thankfully the training center didn’t look cold and uninviting. No, quite the contrary. Somehow the training center had a warm, modern-hip feel to it. The bright red swivel chairs were fun and comfortable. The white tables were sleek and shiny. The lights that cascaded down on them made them welcoming to the eyes. The real warmth of the training center, however, came from my fellow Skytresses and Skyters. We were all very nervous. But, everyone was encouraging each other. We knew we would get through the training day as a crew. There is something to be said about the annual training camaraderie. It’s special. It makes me extremely proud to be a member of my airline family.

This year I only had seven Skytresses in my small training class. The classes were smaller so everyone could be socially distanced. Normally my small training class would have twenty-five Skytresses and Skyters in it. This year we, also, had to wear goggles whenever we couldn’t maintain social distance with one another. In addition, our instructors wiped down everything we touched with disinfectant. Their eagle-eyes caught everything we touched. I tried to catch myself from mindlessly touching things. I wished I had kept my hands behind my back while I inspected the emergency equipment attached to a whiteboard. Instead I touched each piece of equipment to determine if the pre-flight check was air worthy or not. I passed the pre-flight equipment test. I definitely failed the “stop touching things” test.

I had two incredible instructors this year. They were extremely kind. I thoroughly appreciated their wonderful senses of humor, too. Their calm demeanors made us all feel comfortable and relaxed. Well, as comfortable and relaxed as one can feel at training. More importantly, they reignited our confidence that we were going to pass each component of our emergency door evacuation drills. And we all did!

This year we had to successfully evacuate 12 different types of aircrafts. Our airline retired several types of aircrafts this year. Thus, we actually had fewer evacuations drills. Woo-hoo for us! We, also, had 2 aircraft window evacuations. This section of training we affectionately refer to as “the doors”. We nervously waited in the Sky Lounge while each instructor took one Skytress in to the airplane mock-up room. This room is an enormously long room filled with different types of aircraft doors and windows. There are multiple doors and emergency windows of each aircraft in this room. This enables several instructors from different classes to evaluate their group of Skytresses and Skyters in the same room. There are signs attached to each airplane mock-up to remind you of the type airplane door or window you are facing. The instructors also reminds you of the door or window you are looking at. In the whirlwind of going from one door evacuation to another it’s an appreciated helpful reminder.

The instructors ask each Skytresses and Skyters to arm and disarm each door. We arm an aircraft door so it is ready for an evacuation. On an actual airplane, aircraft doors are always armed for an evacuation as soon as the jetway is pulled away from the aircraft. In training, we arm the doors so we can get ready to go through our evacuation proficiency drills. Once the door is armed, we sit on a jumpseat and wait for the instructor to play the crash tape. You guessed it. The crash tape is a recording of an airplane crashing. Next you hear a voice give the pilot commands. We shout our emergency commands based on each pilot command signal. We have procedures to accomplish with each pilot command. If a Skytress or Skyter misses a component of a procedure, or if they fail to shout the proper command, the evacuation has to be redone. The instructors cannot tell the Skytress or Skyter the actual component they missed. If the second attempt is not perfect, then the instructor can explain the component that was missed. One more attempt for a successful evacuation will happen at the end of the day. If the third attempt is not successful, the Skytress or Skyter will be shot. Not really. But, it would be less painful than being pulled from flying and having to come back for additional training.

Of course, our training day is always filled with security, CPR, utilizing the emergency equipment and reviewing numerous sections in our manuals. Oh, but, my least favorite part of annual Skytress training is the Event Management Validation section. In the EMV section of training, we re-enact potential emergencies on the airplane as a crew. Our instructors evaluate our knowledge and response to each emergency. This section of training reminds me of when I was a child and played pretend school with my friends. Except when we were children, we didn’t have our parents in the room making sure we didn’t make any mistakes while we played school. This year the scenarios didn’t seem as daunting. I think the smaller class size really helped me. Okay. Let me be honest……It also helped that we had less scenarios to re-enact this year. Woo-hoo for us! I was proud that my fellow Skytresses and I really worked well as a crew. Our instructors seemed like they were part of our crew…..and not scrutinizing parents. I truly appreciated this. After we debriefed our last emergency scenario we were finished with our training. And just like that….my stress was gone. Yes, we all retained our FAA qualifications for another 18 months. Wait….did I say my stress was gone? Silly me. I still had to go through regular security at the airport to get home. That was another kind of dreaded stress.

I cannot remember the last time I went through security as a regular passenger. It has been years. Usually, I go through the Known Crew Member security line. Or I wear my Skytress uniform and go through the regular security line. Either way, I am exempt from the liquid carry-on restrictions when I am in my Skytress uniform. Because I was on a company leave this month, I couldn’t use the Known Crew Member security line. Since I came from training and was wearing my regular clothes, I had to adhere to the regular passenger security procedures. I went through all my crew bags several times that day to make sure I didn’t have any extra liquids besides the ones in my regulation quart-size plastic bag. I was definitely stressed I had missed something in my crew bags. To make matters worse, I normally don’t have a ticket when I go through security. I just show my airline ID when I am in my uniform to the TSA agent. I thought I was properly prepared by having my ticket displayed on my phone to show the TSA agent. Unfortunately, I didn’t know I had to place my phone on the TSA agent’s machine for it to scan my ticket in order for me to proceed past him. It was an awkward moment or two for me. It was definitely a frustrating moment or two for the TSA agent. My next blunder came when I pulled out my computer and put it in the bin to go through the screening process. I took my iPad out. I just forgot to take it out of it’s case. In my defense, I never have to take my iPad out of my crew bags when I am in uniform and I go through security. Atlanta has a rolling bin system to keep the security line moving. Unfortunately, I wasn’t up to speed on this procedure, either. My only thought was that the TSA agent had seen worse than me. Or at least, I hoped she had. Now, I’ve watched hundreds of passengers go through the full-body scanning machine. I know you won’t be surprised to learn I, myself, have never had to stand inside this machine before. I was throughly ready to mess up this procedure, too. Fortunately for everyone involved, the TSA agent waved me through the regular metal detector machine. Woo-hoo for me! Woo-hoo for the TSA agent, too! I confidently walked through the detector to the other side. Thankfully, I was very familiar with this part of security. And just like that…my stress was gone again.

I planned to work on my blog on my flight home to St. Louis. Instead I closed my eyes and I thought about Ron. I know he would have been proud of me for surviving my annual Skytress training. I could hear his voice, “You’re a smart girl”. I know he would have been proud of me for surviving my ordeal going through regular security, too. Actually, I know he would have laughed. I could hear his voice clearly say to me, “You’re funny”. Yes, going to my annual Skytress training is always a stressful adventure. Fortunately, I passed and I can laugh about it all now. Mr. Paden you are correct. I am a smart and funny girl.

Do you remember the day the Atlanta Airport had a severe power outage? I do. I was stuck on the runway for seven hours. Yep, this is another Skytress story I couldn’t make up if I tried.

So, we had just landed in Atlanta. It was the last leg of a three-day trip. The Washington D.C passengers were actually pleasant on this flight. Everyone was excited because we landed early. At least I know I was. I had backed up my trips and I was ready to get some rest before my next trip the following morning.

I was sitting next to the 3-left door on the Airbus-321. I had a great view of the runway and of the airport out of my Skytress window. I noticed we landed on the “good” runway. Yes, it’s much quicker to get to the gates when we land on the “good” runway. I knew we were going to park at a “good” gate, too. We were coming in near the middle of the concourse. I was on a Skytress high from all our good fortune. Then we slowed down on our taxi-in. The Captain powered down the engines. Uh-oh. The Captain called our Skyter In-Charge. Double Uh-Oh. The Skyter In-Charge called the rest of us. He informed us there was a power outage in the airport. The Captain wasn’t sure how long we would be parked. I wasn’t too concerned at this point. I’ve survived power outages before. The Captain informed the passengers about the power outage. He told them they could turn on their electronic devices. As soon as he made the announcements, I walked through the cabin with headsets for the passengers. I’ve learned in a situation like this, if people can watch something or listen to something…they are less likely to complain to the crew. My preemptive measure definitely helped. You can bet, I was very relieved we were on an aircraft that had in-seat monitors. I felt for my fellow Skytresses and Skyters that were on aircrafts that didn’t have any.

Information came in slowly about the power outage in the airport. We were told there was a fire on the C-Concourse that caused the power outage. Jetways couldn’t be moved to allow passengers to deplane or board aircrafts. Everything was at a stand still. My crew and I had limited supplies on board the aircraft. However, we conducted another beverage and snack service. Passengers were understanding if we didn’t have their preferred beverage or snack. They could see airplanes weren’t moving outside. So, they settled in their seats. After all, the Captain informed us we were the first aircraft in line to taxi to a gate once we were released to do so.

The Captain made an announcement about two hours into our ground stop that we were going to move the aircraft. No, we weren’t going to a gate like we had hoped. The aircraft behind us had a medical situation. Our aircraft needed to move so the emergency personnel could get to them. Unfortunately, now we would be the last aircraft in line. I confess. I wished we could have said we had an emergency, too. Jumping back to the front of the line sounded pretty good to me.

Our Skyter In-Charge and I were the senior people on the crew. We had our fair share of experiencing long hours stuck on a plane filled with passengers. We could tell the younger Skytress and Skyter were on the edge of snapping. They were tired from working a three-day trip. The ground stop was dragging on too long. Little things were getting on their nerves. The Skyter-In Charge and I made a plan to kill everyone with kindness. Especially, our fellow crew members. It started to work. The junior crew members told us they knew we were holding it together. So, they would too. Thankfully, that was one less thing we needed to worry about.

I did text Ron to let him know what was happening. He turned on the TV to see if he could find out any information. He texted me back with bad news. The airport was a mess. Passengers had been evacuated from the C-Concourse and we standing outside in the cold rain. The roads into the airport were jammed. He looked on the computer to see how much time I had before I went illegal for my trip the next day. He told me he would continue to check on me. I told him I would keep him updated on things at my end, too. Unfortunately, there wasn’t much to update him on for a very long time.

Five and a half hours into the ground stop, the Captain called to inform us our lavatory tanks were filling up. Unfortunately, the lavatory trucks wouldn’t be able to get to us for awhile to dump the lavs. He told us he would make an announcement to the passengers. Awful news always sound better when it comes from the Captain. The Captain told the passengers about our lav dilemma. He told them not to flush the toilets until they were completely filled. Everyone chuckled. My crew and I became the official fluid monitors. It was a hysterically humbling job. Eventually, we couldn’t hold any more fluid in the tanks. The lav truck came….to dump the lavs on the tarmac. Yep, you heard that right.

We did see some airplanes taxing while we were parked on the runway. We learned, however, taxing aircraft was a logistical nightmare. It was an extremely cumbersome process. Planes weren’t taking off. Passengers needed to be deplaned from airplanes parked at gates with unusable jetways. There were numerous planes that didn’t have gates that needed to be deplaned. Passengers that were evacuated outside from the concourses needed to renter the airport securely, too. Six and a half hours after we landed, we got the clearance to moved to the gate area to deplane.

We didn’t taxi to an actual gate. No, an area was corrine off so aircraft could pull up outside a stairwell that lead up to the concourse. Air stairs were brought up to the aircrafts for passengers to deplane. Ramp agents assisted passenger with their luggage down the stairs. Another group of Ramp Agents had flashlights to direct passengers towards the stairs in the dimly lit airport. Seven hours after landing, I made my way down the stairs with all my luggage. It took me a second to get my bearings. We were outside A-Concourse at gate 27. My crew and I climbed the stairs up into the concourse. My crew headed to the crew lounge to catch the employee shuttles to the parking lot. I was the only commuter on my trip. I headed down the concourse to make my way outside to the hotel shuttle area.

Of course the escalators and elevators were not operating. So, I trudged down the escalator stairs to the train level. Several Skytresses were descending in front of me. The trains between the concourses weren’t operating. So, we followed the flow of passengers down the hallway to the next concourse. I couldn’t believe what I saw when we arrived at the escalators passengers normally rode down from airport security to the trains. The escalators on one side were being used by the wheelchair attendants to carry passengers up in wheelchairs. Once the attendants got to the top, they would slide down the small metal area next to the escalator with the empty chair to repeat the process. The able-body people climbed the escalator steps on the opposite side.

It was a very slow process ascending the stairs. People had to stop with their luggage to catch their breath before they proceeded up. My three crew bags were packed for six days of flying. My winter coat was making me sweat. My arms were becoming tired from carrying my bags up and down the previous flights of airport stairs. The Skytresses in front of me were as tired as I was. The constant stopping and picking up the luggage was becoming arduous. I wished I had taken the escalator that went to the T-Concourse. There were fewer steps. There was, also, a landing area in between the escalators. I was positive there was less people using that escalator, too. That escalator would have allowed me to exit the airport. I tried not to look up at all the steps I still had to climb. Somehow, this made the climb less daunting. My two small crew bags kept sliding off my shoulder. A woman behind me asked me if she could help me with my suitcase. I told her I could manage. My suitcase was reinforced with steel. It was heavy without clothes in it. It was now packed with six days of clothing. I didn’t want her to lift my heavy suitcase. She explained she didn’t have any luggage. She really wanted to help me. Before I knew it, she swept my suitcase up. She ran up the stairs zigzagging around slower people. She placed my suitcase at the top of the escalator and waved to me. She then disappeared before I could thank her. She was an angel. At least she was to me.

I started to walk towards the hotel shuttle area. A young soldier stopped me for assistance. He had missed his flight to Germany. He hadn’t flown much and wasn’t sure what to do. I tried to help him by pulling up information on my phone. Unfortunately, he needed an actual agent to help him with his flight. Sadly, it was now very late in the evening. I couldn’t find an agent to help the young man. I directed him to the USO area. I hoped he could at least find a place to rest until the morning ticket agents arrived for work.

One good thing did go in my favor. The hotel shuttle driver pulled up as soon as I went outside. He told me I missed the mass exodus of passengers from the airport. He said parking lot shuttles and hotel shuttles were having difficulty getting to and from the airport. He explained people were walking down the middle of the streets surrounding the airport to get to their cars or to be picked up. He said he had never seen the likes of it before. I was grateful I missed that fiasco.

I called Ron when I arrived at the airport hotel. I updated Ron on my adventure out of the airport. He and I laughed about the whole ordeal. My first two flights on my trip the next day had cancelled. Thus, I was legal to fly my trip. We agreed the next day would be much better. My Heavenly bed truly felt heavenly when I finally climbed into it.

The next day I rode to the airport with a hotel shuttle filled with pilots. We swapped stories about the previous day. Everyone had a bizarre experience with the power outage. The one consensus, though, was the walk up the escalator to exit the airport was excruciating. Yes, each pilot was traveling with the heavy-reinforced steel crew bag. They didn’t have an angel whisk their bags up the escalator steps for them. Yes, I was truly blessed by my angel.

I flew out of the C-Concourse on my first flight. We were flying to Gainesville. I sat in the gatehouse and talked with one of my Gainesville passengers. She had been in the C-Concourse the day before when the concourse was evacuated. Her story was fascinating. We both agreed we were looking forward to a much better flying experience that day. I’m not sure how her day turned out once we got to Gainesville. Unfortunately, my quick turn to Gainesville and back to Atlanta wasn’t quick at all. Nope, it took us twelve hours. We had a mechanical when we landed in Gainesville. I told Ron all about it after we landed back in Atlanta for our unscheduled layover. One day I will tell you all about that Gainesville trip, too.

The other day I was carefully wrapping up my Christmas ornaments to put them away. I collect Christmas ornaments from cities I’ve traveled to. Each city ornament holds special memories for me. I smiled as I wrapped the ornaments from cities that held unforgettable memories of Ron and me. There are still a few cities I need to collect ornaments from to celebrate our time together. Ron liked to collected magnets from cities he traveled to that held special memories for him. Ron was smart. Magnets are readily available all year long. Unfortunately, Christmas ornaments are another story. The perfect city ornament can be tough to find. Especially during the spring and summer months. As I put the ornaments away, I came to the realization that another year had ended without Ron. Harder yet, another year was beginning without him. This wave of reality hit me hard. It literally took my breath away. I knew I needed to regain control from the wave of grief that was pulling me under. So, I decided to think about the beautiful times Ron and I flew together. Immediately I thought about our Omaha trip. It was a marvelous trip. We flew with two delightful young Skytresses. The Omaha passengers, who are known for being extremely nice, were just that. Oh, and we, also, had a medical emergency on our flight, to boot. Yes, all these things contributed to making it an extraordinary trip. Especially, the medical emergency.

It was a very cold December morning the day we left Omaha. We had an extremely early pick-up time that day, too. Surprisingly, the cold weather and early show time didn’t have a negative effect on any of us. That morning there were crews from several airlines in the hotel shuttle. Everyone was happily chatting away. Typically, Ron would be quiet on the early morning shuttle rides. He usually liked to close his eyes and quietly sip his coffee on the way to the airport. That morning though, Ron was laughing and talking with everyone within earshot of him. I sat back smiling and took it all in. I even thanked God for the happy blessings unfolding before me. Normally, I was the early morning talker. I could tell Ron was aware of the change in our early morning routine. He kept turning towards me to say something funny to get me to talk. Mostly I just shook my head and laughed. I was his captivated audience. He knew it, too. This only encouraged him to entertain me even more.

Unlike other airlines, at our airline the Skytresses and Skyters rotate the jumpseat positions each day. This day I was sitting on the forward jumpseat with our Skytress In-Charge. We were flying on the MD-90. On this particular aircraft the galley is up front. Thus, it was our responsibility to start pulling out the carts to set them up for the service when we reached 10,000 feet. Our immediate setting up of the carts would allow Ron and the other Skytress to get out in the aisle faster. It also meant I would follow behind them with my beverage cart for the in-flight service. That morning I was eager to get out in the aisle to serve our passengers. As I mentioned earlier, Omaha passengers are some of my favorite passengers. They are typically extremely nice and considerate people. I cheerfully pushed my beverage cart into the main cabin. One of my first passengers I was to serve was a little girl. She was sitting next to her Mom. She proudly had her tray table down in anticipation of my arrival. I could tell she was very excited to order her drink and snack. I smiled and said hello to her. I asked her how she was doing. She responded by simply saying, “You’re so pretty”. I was stunned. Ron told me this everyday. However, except for Ron telling me this, I am never on the receiving end of this type of compliment. I was extremely touched by this sweet girl’s comment. I, of course, told her she was my favorite passenger on the airplane. This made the little girl beam. Needless to say, I beamed, too, as I pushed my beverage cart down the aisle to served the rest of my Omaha passengers.

A short time later, the four of us were back in the forward galley breaking down our beverage carts. That is when we heard the ding of a passenger call button. We looked in the cabin and could see the orange call button lit in the back of the aircraft. We all collectively thought we either missed someone when we serving or else someone had just awakened and wanted something to drink. Ron, the Skytress In-Charge and I were all blocked in the galley by the beverage carts. So, the other Skytress said she would go see what the passenger needed. Moments later the other Skytress rang the call button to get our attention. We could tell she needed help. The Skytress In-Charge went to help her. I commented to Ron I thought maybe the passenger was getting sick. He turned in the galley to get me some trash bags and paper towels. I took the items and walked quickly to the back of the airplane. As I got closer to the passenger, I could tell the young lady was having a seizure. The Skytress In-Charge picked up the PA to make a request for medical assistance. A passenger call button dinged towards the front of the aircraft. I turned on my heels and headed back to the front of the plane. When I got closer to the lit call button, I could tell it was located in the row with my favorite little girl passenger. The little girl’s mother told me her husband was a paramedic. He was sitting across from them on the aisle. He had his earbuds in his ears and was listening to music on his phone. I placed my arm on the gentleman. He immediately took his earbuds out. I asked him if he was willing to help us. Since he hadn’t heard the announcement he wasn’t sure why I needed his help. Despite this, he agreed instantly. I told him his wife told me he was a paramedic. I quickly explained to him we had a passenger that was having a seizure. I cannot explain to you the feeling of confidence and calmness that shot through my body as he arose out of his seat. He had an overwhelming aura about him. I knew instantly this man was a kindhearted and compassionate man. More importantly, I knew he had everything under control……and we hadn’t yet made it to the back of the airplane.

The two Skytresses were assisting the young passenger. I walked past them to retrieve the medical equipment from the overhead bin. As I turned to go back to give the paramedic the medical equipment, I could see Ron standing in the first-class aisle. He was observing what was happening in the back of the airplane. Our protocol after 9-11, is to always have a crewmember remain in first-class if there is a medical situation in the back of the airplane. This is for security reasons. The paramedic had been briefed on the passenger. He was examining the young lady when I arrived with the medical equipment. I described the contents in all the pouches and medical kits I had brought back with me. He immediately placed the blood pressure cuff around the young lady and started to get her vital signs. She was slowly coming back to consciousness. The gentleman that was sitting next to the young lady had moved out of the row and was now standing next to me. He told me he and the young lady had been talking prior to her seizure. He said the young lady had looked towards the ceiling as if she was starring at a bug. That is when she started to have the seizure. He was also very concerned for the young lady because she was traveling by herself. He mentioned the young lady’s Mom was picking her up in Atlanta and they were going to drive to Birmingham for Christmas. When the young lady was coherent enough to answer questions, she told us she was 18 -years old. She mentioned her father had started to have seizures when he turned 18. She informed us she wasn’t on any medication. She, also, revealed she hadn’t eaten or drank anything that morning. The paramedic decided to start an IV to help stabilize her based on her condition and vital signs. The paramedic always spoke with a calming voice. His voice was soothing for the young lady and for all of us. Eventually, I decided to go back to the paramedic’s wife and explain the medical situation her husband was helping us with. More importantly, I wanted to thank her for ringing her call button and to tell her….her husband was a phenomenal person.

Ron watched me walk up the aisle. I could see he had medical forms in his hand. After I spoke with the paramedic’s wife and young daughter, I turned towards Ron. He said he was listening in on the phone calls between the pilots and the Skytress In-Charge. He was aware of the developments taking place with the passenger. Since his manual was in the back of the aircraft he had retrieved the medical forms out of my manual. I smiled. He, also, mentioned he filled out the forms so our medical equipment could be swapped out when we got to Atlanta. Ron felt terrible we were dealing with the medical situation and he had to stay up front. He made me smile when he said the first-class passengers were so nice they declined everything he had offered them. He said their only concern was for the well-being of the young passenger. I gave Ron a more detailed briefing on the passenger’s condition. Then I headed back down the aisle with the medical forms.

The Skytress In-Charge revealed to me this was her first in-flight medical emergency. She had never filled out the medical forms before. I was astonished. She had impressed me from the moment she went back to help the other Skytress with the medical situation. I told her this, too. I discerned her adrenaline was now wearing off and she was starting to worry about things. I tried to calm her nerves. I said I would help her with the forms. I reminded her she was not alone. We were a crew. She sighed a deep sigh of relief. The other Skytress told us she was going to go back to the galley to get the young lady some water and some snacks. Minutes later the paramedic was calling the young woman’s name. She was starting to have another seizure. My heart sank. The paramedic looked straight at me and asked me if I could find out how far we were from the nearest airport. I could tell he was extremely concerned. Fortunately, I was standing next to the phone. I called the pilots. I told the Captain I was with the paramedic. I explained the young lady was having another seizure and the paramedic wanted to know how far we were from the closest airport. The Captain informed me we had been given a straight routing to Atlanta. Atlanta was our closest airport. He said we were 15 minutes from landing. I relayed the information to the paramedic. In a very calm, but authoritative voice, he told me, “The sooner. The better.” I quoted the paramedic’s statement to the Captain. The Captain said, “Okay. I copy that. Call me if you need to. Forget sterile cockpit.” Sterile cockpit is when the aircraft is below 10,000 feet. It is the busiest part of the flight for the pilots. We only call if there is an emergency. The Captain wanted to confirm he or the first-officer would be on the phone immediately if we needed them. I looked towards the front of the plane as I was hanging up the phone. Ron had been on the phone listening to the call. One thing I loved about the MD-90 was the audible phone ding in the cockpit. The people in the galley always knew when someone in the back of the plane was calling the pilots. Many times when Skyters and Skytresses heard the chime in the cockpit they would pick up the phone and listen. Thus, if there was an incident on the aircraft they would be aware of the situation. Ron looked back at me. His look confirmed he heard the conversation. He turned to tell the other Skytress about the phone call.

The pilots are in constant communication with the ground personnel when there is a medical incident. That day air traffic control was working hard to get us on the ground as quickly and safely as possible. Moments after hanging up the phone with the Captain, the bells chimed to inform us we were now minutes from landing. Ron immediately picked up the phone and made our final descent PA. I could tell we were descending more quickly than normal. The Skytress In-Charge and I began to quickly secure the back cabin. We verified the paramedic and young lady were securely seated with their seat belts on. Ron and the other Skytress secured first-class and conducted a final walk through of the cabin. The Skytress In-Charge looked at the young lady. She was once again coming out of another seizure. The Skytress In-Charge was conflicted. She knew she was supposed to sit up front for landing. However, she was concerned for the young passenger. She didn’t know what to do. I picked up the phone and called Ron. I told him I was going to sit on his jumpseat for landing. The Skytress In-Charge was going to sit on the “Princess” jumpseat next to the young lady’s row. The “Princess” jumpseat is a single -person jumpseat. Skytresses and Skyters sit alone on it like a princess sitting on a throne. Ron said “No problem. We’ll see you on the ground.” I sat on Ron’s jumpseat and prayed for the young lady. And I thanked God for blessing us with a remarkable paramedic on our flight.

Ron made our landing PA. He asked the passengers to remain seated when we got to the gate. Before we turned into the gate the Captain made another PA to remind the passengers to remain seated. It’s always an odd sensation when the seatbelt sign is turned off and everyone remains quietly seated. Ron’s PA for the crew to prepare the doors for arrival, cross-check and answer all-call echoed throughout the plane. I could easily hear the Captain open the cockpit door. Then I heard the aircraft door open. I was relieved when the firemen-paramedics started to walk down the aisle. The passengers sitting around the young lady were relieved, too. Everyone had become friendly with each other during our flight. The young woman’s seat mates knew she didn’t have family on our flight. Unselfishly, they became her family.

After everyone deplaned, Ron told me the young lady’s Mom was in the gatehouse waiting for her. During the flight when I went to talk to the paramedic’s family, the young lady told our Skytress In-Charge that her Mom was going to meet her outside the airport and they were going to drive to Birmingham. Our Skytress In-Charge asked the young lady if she had her Mom’s cell phone number. The Skytress In-Charge gave the number to the Captain. The ground personnel then called the young lady’s Mom. An agent supervisor met the young lady’s Mom at the ticket counter and escorted her to the gate to be there for her daughter when we arrived. I was so relieved the young lady’s Mom was now with her. I could only imagine how scared and lonely she must have felt at times during our flight.

Ron congratulated us ladies for handling the medical situation. Our Skytress In-Charge thanked us all for helping her get through her first medical emergency. Ron then asked me how I was doing. I smiled. I told him my legs felt like rubber and my insides were doing cartwheels now that my adrenaline was wearing off. Our Skytress In-Charge had a startled expression. She thought she was the only one feeling this way. We all laughed. We told her this is usually how the crew feels after we land and everything is over. Yep, we feel all jelly-like. I told her talking about it would help. She forewarned me I was going to be exhausted from all her talking on our next flight. Ron said it wasn’t going to be a problem for me. He told her I loved to talk on the jumpseat. Yep, Ron knew me too well.

Ron and I walked to our next gate. He told me he was proud of me. Ron said he had it easy on the flight compared to everyone else. I told him he had the most important job on the airplane. He was confused. I explained I felt extremely safe on the flight knowing he was there with me. Whenever I started to get scared or stressed I would just look at him and a sense of calm come over me. I constantly told Ron he made me feel safe. He always said he appreciated it when I told him this. That day Ron didn’t say anything. He stopped walking and just stared silently at me. Then he smiled. He smiled a great big smile and gently placed his hand on my back. I smiled back at him. We happily continued walking to our next gate in silence.

One day when we were flying out of Omaha Ron bought a magnet from the airport gift shop. It made me chuckle and I looked to see if there was an Omaha Christmas ornament. Unfortunately, the shop didn’t have any. I know one day I will buy an ornament on one of my Omaha layovers. I know my family and friends will think it’s just an ornament from Omaha hanging on my Christmas tree. But, for me, it will be an ornament filled with lovely memories of the Omaha passengers, the young lady who had the seizure, the kindhearted paramedic, his family, my crew and especially beautiful memories of Ron.

When I became a Skytress rarely did I ever see a dog on a plane. The only time I would see a dog is if we had a visually impaired passenger or a passenger in a wheelchair using a service dog for assistance. The past few years we have seen an influx of dogs on our airplanes. Some passengers travel with pets in the cabin in a carrier underneath their seat. We have passengers traveling with emotional support dogs. We have passengers traveling with service dogs. Rarely do we have an issue with dogs on our airplanes. However, just like passengers, dogs have their distinct personalities. And just like passengers, a few stand out more than others. For better or worse.

Years ago at my airline, only service dogs were allowed in the cabin. However, one day on my flight to Bangor, Maine, that policy changed. I was the Skytress In-Charge. The Captain briefed me that we would have a dog in the cabin. He explained the passenger received special permission from our CEO to fly with her dog inside the plane. However, he explained, she had to keep her dog in the carrier the entire flight. Minutes later, the woman, her family and dog pre-boarded the airplane. I briefed my crew to inform them that the woman had special permission from our CEO to have her dog on board. I reiterated to them the dog was to remain in the carrier until she got off the airplane. When I am the Skytress In-Charge, I always walk through the main cabin to pick up trash after the service. I like to do this so I can check on the passengers and see if they need anything. When I walked through the cabin on this particular day, I spied a gray Poodle sitting on her owner’s chest. The woman was having a wonderful time entertaining her dog. Sadly, I noticed, her family was blatantly ignoring her and the dog. Of course, I had to remind the woman she had agreed she would keep her dog in the carrier until she got off the plane. She said okay and put her dog back in the carrier. After we landed, the Captain and I stood at the cockpit door to thank our passengers for flying with us. The family of the woman traveling with the dog deplaned. A few minutes later the woman walked up the aisle. Her dog was out of the carrier. She was holding it. The dog was wearing a scarf, a sun visor and sunglasses. The Captain turned to me. He asked me if I had explained to the woman the dog needed to be in the carrier until she deplaned. I told the Captain I had reminded the woman of this several times during our flight. Since we had an unaccompanied minor on our flight, I walked him up to the gatehouse after the woman deplaned. I could see the woman was happily greeting her friends with her overly-accessorized dog. I could, also see, the friends and the woman’s family weren’t amused in the least. Amazingly, she didn’t notice this at all. I have no idea how this woman got permission from the CEO to bring her dog on board our flight that day. I like to think our CEO had a very weak spot in his heart for dogs that wear sun visors.

I’ve had my fair share of Houdini dogs on my flights. By this I mean, their owners had no idea how their dogs escaped from their carriers. Of course, it only takes a Skytress or Skyter to point out the carrier wasn’t completely latched or zipped. Not surprisingly, we, also, ultimately find out the owner intentionally unlatched or unzipped the carrier. Once on an evening flight I was putting away items in the back galley. The cabin lights were turned down. However, there was enough light in the cabin to see something scurry past the galley down the aisle. When I poked my head out of the galley I saw a small dog sitting in front of the lavatory. This caused me to pause for two reasons. First, the dog was so darn cute just sitting there. Second, I wondered how it got out of it’s carrier. Then the dog started to bark. The lavatory door opened. The gentleman inside the lavatory looked down and picked up the dog. He looked at me apologetically. As he walked towards me, he sheepishly tried to explain his dog had separation anxiety. I, of course, asked him how the dog got out of the carrier. He told me he didn’t know. I gave him my Skytress disbelief look. Then he admitted he had unzipped the carrier after we took off. He said he forgot to zip it back up before he went to the lavatory. I chuckled. I couldn’t help it. I could tell he truly loved his dog. Plus, his dog had the cutest puppy eyes. The dog was innocently looking right at me begging me for forgiveness. Ah puppy dog eyes……They get me every time.

On another flight, I was in the galley setting up my first-class meals. The gentleman at 3C rang his call button. I quickly went back to inquire what he needed. I barely had the words, “Yes, sir” out of my mouth before he spoke. He informed me a dog had just peed on his leg. I gasped. As I was apologizing to him, I could see the passengers in the bulkhead row in the main cabin squirming around in their seats. Then I saw the dog shoot out from the bulkhead row and dart into another row. I quickly went to make a PA. We had several dogs on our flight and I didn’t know which dog was the Houdini dog. I asked the passenger that had lost their dog to please ring their call button. After a short pause, a gentleman rang his call button. Fortunately other passengers caught the Houdini dog as he scurried about in the cabin. The dog owner and I met in the aisle. He didn’t seem too concerned his dog had escaped. I informed the gentleman his dog had peed on a first-class passenger. The gentleman timidly said he wasn’t sure how his dog got out of the carrier. He said he was sorry and took his dog back to his seat with him. I went back to the gentleman in 3C and apologized again. I told him I was going to give him a cleaning voucher to get his pants cleaned. He said it wasn’t necessary. He laughed and told me he had passengers throw up on him before, but, never had a dog pee on him. I insisted I was going to give him the cleaning voucher. It was the least I could do. I headed to the galley to get the voucher. I had just started to fill out the voucher when the gentleman in 3C rang his call button again. I hurried back to his seat. Before I could say anything, he told me the dog was back. I couldn’t believe it! The dog’s owner was beside me in a flash grabbing for his dog and apologizing. I walked back to the dog owner’s seat with him. I asked the gentleman if their was something wrong with the dog carrier that was allowing the dog to get out. The gentleman then confessed he had unzipped the top of the carrier. He didn’t think the dog was getting enough air. I looked at the carrier. It was a mesh-dog carrier. I told the gentleman the dog would have sufficient air because his dog carrier was a mesh carrier. I told him he would have to keep the dog carrier completely zipped the rest of the flight. I couldn’t fault the Houdini dog for escaping. Some humans just need to be trained better.

I once had a first-class passenger ring her call button and ask if I had any tape she could use. She explained she was taking her dog home to have unscheduled surgery later that day. Her dog was anxious and in pain. It had bit a hole in the dog carrier. The dog was feverishly working at the hole to get out. Now, I’ve told you in the past…the one thing you should always take with you on a deserted island is a Skytress……because Skytresses always have whatever you need. Interestingly, I had duct tape in my bag. Yes, I laughed when my Skyter friend David showed me his roll of duct tape once. Then on my next trip I could have used duct tape. So, I too, threw one in my bag. I gave the woman my roll of duct tape. She started taping away. I could hear her poor scared dog scraping away inside the carrier. My heart broke for him. A little later in the flight the woman stopped me and asked me if she could use my tape again. The dog had worked at making another hole in the carrier. I could tell the woman was embarrassed. More than that, I could tell she was extremely concerned for her injured dog. I, also, knew she had another flight to catch to get home. I had such compassion for her and her injured dog. I went back into my flight bag to retrieve the tape. I handed the woman my roll of duct tape and told her to keep it. She was extremely grateful. I’m sure her dog was more grateful when they landed back home and could get out of his duct tape carrier.

I am always in awe of the service dogs that come fly on our planes. They are smart, hard working dogs. They are usually the sweetest dogs, too. One day I had a gentleman that came on board with his service dog. The gentleman was visually impaired. He was, also, one of our preferred passengers. He flew our airline a lot. I had a wonderful conversation with him as we walked to his seat. I asked him about his dog. His dog was a beautiful Golden Retriever. The gentleman told me this was his dog’s last working flight. His dog had been his service dog and family dog for years. Now he was just going to be his family dog. He had another dog that would travel with him in the future. I knew this flight home would be special for both of them. It was special for me, too. I was honored I was working the flight and was able to meet them both. I often think about this gentleman and his dog. I wonder if his dog is like my dog Finley. She always looks towards the sky when an airplane flies overhead. Unlike like the Golden Retriever, Finley has never actually flown on a plane. So, she doesn’t know what she is missing. I like to think the Golden Retriever misses some things about flying. Especially, the kind Skytresses and Skyters that thought he was absolutely adorable.

I have a lifelong love of German Shepherds. Our friends in Montana had a German Shepherd named Shep. Shep was the best dog. He took great care of us kids. He would bark if we got too close to the road. Then he would herd us back into the yard. So, when we have a German Shepherd on our flights, it is always a treat for me. One particular flight we had a Military Police Officer traveling with his service dog. I would spy at the dog every time I walked by him. I started to notice the dog would turn his head away from me whenever I walked by. It started to humor me. I told my crew the dog was shunning me. I walked by the dog several times so my crew could witness it. We all laughed. We laughed even harder when the dog would constantly stare at all of them as they walked through the aisle. When we arrived in Atlanta our crew had to change airplanes. On the way to the next plane I was telling the Captain about the German Shepherd and how he shunned me the entire flight. When we got to the next gate we had to wait for our aircraft to deplane. The Captain and I continued our conversation. I noticed the MP and the German Shepherd from our previous flight walking up the concourse. I pointed them out to the Captain. Sure enough, as they walked by us, the dog gave me a half-glance then he abruptly turned his head away. The Captain chuckled. He agreed. The dog definitely shunned me. This dog had a lot of character. It made me love him even more. I think he recognized this, too. I suspect he was just playing hard to get.

Talk about character. One day I was standing at the boarding door. A Goldendoodle entered the aircraft. You know I smiled…..because I have a Goldendoodle, too. My Finley is a cool dog. But, this Goldendoodle’s cool factor was off the charts. He had a blue Mohawk and was wearing blue-mirrored sunglasses. If the Fronz was a dog, this would be him. Of course, after the dog and his owner got settled in their seats, I had to go back and talk with them. The gentleman told me his dog’s name was Derby. Derby is a surfing dog. I smiled and told the gentleman Ron would love to have a dog just like Derby. Ron was a surfer, too. Finley loves the water. But, getting her to sit on a surfboard to ride a wave would be almost impossible. The gentleman proudly told me Derby has won several surfing competitions. He then handed me a business card. Not his business card. No, Derby had his own business card. It even had his blue Mohawk fur picture on it. It cracked me up. I just read recently Derby and his owner are featured on Amazon Prime’s, “The Pack”. A business card AND a TV show. Please don’t tell my dog Finley!

I know there have been some awful…awful…awful….stories about dogs on airplanes. Airlines have implemented more procedures when traveling with dogs to help prevent these incidences. Still, I can’t help but smile when our furry passengers board our planes. They all have their own personalities. Yes, there are even times they behave better than their owners. If we Skytresses and Skyters could put the owners in a carrier and place them under the seat on these days, …..life would be much better for both the crew and the dog. Yikes! I know. I know. That last comment was a wee bit….ruff!

Skytresses and Skyters get asked all the time how many hours we work a week. It’s a simple question. Unfortunately, in the airline business, it isn’t an easy answer. We base our work time on monthly hours. Our trips are created following both our airline guidelines and Federal Regulations. At times it can be a very confusing mess. Especially when weather issues, minimum rest requirements, and mechanicals are thrown into the mix. Our manuals are filled with pages of rules and regulations. Skytresses, Skyters, schedulers, and crew tracking reference these pages ad nauseum. Especially, when the proverbial poop is hitting the fan. On the rarest of occasions the rules and regulations fall through the cracks. This happened to my crew and me once. It was a horrible duty day that wouldn’t end. Fortunately, this horrible duty day is a fabulous Skytress story. And who doesn’t love a fabulous….horrible…. Skytress story?

My crew and I had a layover in West Palm Beach. Early the next morning we were scheduled to fly from West Palm Beach to JKF. From there we were to fly to Boston then to Montreal. We knew our flight to JKF was going to be trying. It usually is. The agents were eager to pre-board our passengers needing special assistance. We weren’t as eager. Boarding can be the toughest part of our day. It’s also the part of our day we don’t get paid flight time. No, we get paid once the airplane door is closed. This particular day, we had one passenger that was a carry-on passenger. She needed the aisle chair to get to her seat. The woman was quite cantankerous from the moment she got on the airplane. We tried to win her over with our super-delux Skytress kindness. She was having none of that. Unfortunately for us, she became even more cantankerous when our flight was delayed leaving because of snow issues in JFK.

The snow forecast in New York was not promising. The Captain was keeping us abreast of the numerous cancellations into JFK while we sat at the gate. With each update, my crew and I started to have hope we would cancel and stay in West Palm. As you can imagine, my crew and I were becoming exhausted from answering the passenger’s “what if” and scenario questions. Just when we thought we couldn’t answer one more question, we got the word we were released to fly to JFK. Unfortunately for all of us, the closer we got to JFK….the more air traffic control slowed us down. We were ecstatic when we finally landed. However, our celebration was premature. On a good day it is hard to get to the gate in JFK. When snow is thrown into the mix,… it is excruciating. Unfortunately, when we arrived to the gate, there wasn’t an agent available to move the jetway. I’m not sure who was more happy to get off the plane when the airplane door opened…us or our passengers. Our pre-board passengers were so happy to get off the plane, they didn’t wait for the wheelchair attendants to come get them. Our cantankerous passenger was extremely angry it took us hours to get to JFK. She refused to wait for the the aisle chair and walked up the jetway in disgust. Our pilots wished us luck as we walked up the jetway with them. Fortunately for them, they were laying over in New York. Unfortunately for us, we still had to fly to Boston and to Montreal.

I’m sure you won’t be surprised when I tell you our flight to Boston was delayed. You will be pleasantly surprised to learn I was flying with my dear Skytress friend Jennie Lou. Jennie Lou was our Skytress in-charge. Since we were on a slow rolling weather delay, Jennie Lou, Skytress Shelly and I decided to get something to eat. After all, It was now dinner time.

Our aircraft we were taking to Boston eventually arrived at our gate. The agents were extremely eager to get our flight boarded. We were going to be full with misconnections from earlier flights to Boston. We also had passengers from other airlines that were transferred over to our flight. The foul weather had everyone on edge. We were all happy the flight to Boston was scheduled to be a short flight. But first we had to get off the ground. We slowly taxied towards the de-icing area. There were 34 other airplanes that were to be de-iced before us. Then the proverbial poop hit the fan for the umpteenth time that day. An aircraft from an international airline that was in line to de-ice had a mechanical. It couldn’t move. So every aircraft in the de-icing line couldn’t move, either. Jennie Lou, Shelly and I took turns going into the cockpit to get away from disgruntled passengers. This was before 9-11 and the pilots would taxi with the cockpit door open. The cockpit was our refuge. We needed a few breaks to keep our sanity. Our passengers were thoroughly testing it. Unbeknownst to us, a passenger brought their cat….that we didn’t know we had on board…. into the first-class lavatory and let it go to the bathroom in the sink. That poop didn’t hit the fan. No, it stayed in the sink. Another passenger informed us of this when they tried to use the restroom. Sadly, this is one of the more pleasant stories for me to tell you all.

As you can imagine, the passengers were upset it was taking forever to get de-iced. When we finally became second in line to de-ice, I thought we had won a small victory. Finally, the aircraft in front of us was informed its de-icing was complete. Or so we thought. Our pilots informed the tower the plane still had snow on it’s wings. The plane had to be de-iced again. Ugh! Finally. FINALLY….it was our turn to get de-iced. The first officer came back into the cabin to make sure our wings were cleared of snow before we taxied away. I slightly feared for his life. The upset passengers had a fresh body to hurl unkind comments at. Jennie Lou, Shelly and I no longer felt their insults and anger. We determined the worst offenders came over from the other airlines. We took solace in the knowledge no one at our airline would ever be subjected to them ever again. They continuously barked at us that they would never fly our airline again. Thank goodness for us all.

There is something that is very calming for everyone when you take off and hear the hum of the engines. Except if you are a Skytress and the hum of the engine is going on longer than the flight was scheduled for. We Skytresses could tell we were in a holding pattern. Then the Captain turned the proverbial poop fan back on. The Captain called to inform us the Boston airport was now closed due to the snow. We were heading back to JFK.

I won’t write what the passenger’s said at this point. Boston and JKF passengers have salty language on a good day. This, as you know, was not a good day. The one belligerent passenger from the other airline tried to rally her troops again in hurling insults at our airline. Instead, her troops turned on her. This only made her more mad. When we got to the gate in JFK I thought she was going to slug the Captain as she deplaned. Instead, she furiously went up the jetway to find a fresh body that had to deal with her wrath.

We Skytresses took our time heading up to the gatehouse. We knew there would be utter chaos in the gate area. And there was. The agent supervisor had his hands full. Passengers were demanding answers, hotel accommodations and to be booked on the next flight to Boston. The agent was on the phone. He turned to us. He wanted to know where our unaccompanied minor was. We had no idea what he was talking about. We didn’t have an unaccompanied minor on our flight. We showed him our paperwork. He could see there wasn’t an unaccompanied minor listed. Jennie Lou, Shelly and I knew we had timed out on our duty day, so we stood back to let the agent deal with the person on the phone. When we did, we overheard a group of disgruntled passengers talking about taking care of a young boy traveling by himself. You guessed it. He was our unaccompanied minor from the other airline that we didn’t know was on our flight.

Everything in the airport was closed at this time. Jennie Lou, Shelly and I were tired and famished. Our Skyter friend David had put a loaf of banana bread in my employee mailbox prior to our trip. At the time, I debated whether I should take it with me or leave it in my mailbox until we arrived back in Cincinnati. Fortunately, I took it with me. It was now the only food we had available to eat in the JFK airport. We were grateful. We thanked David for baking it. The three of us sat in a quiet gatehouse away from our passengers eating it. We eventually decided it was in our best interest to head to the crew lounge. It was undoubtedly much safer for us.

The three of us had not spent much time in the JFK crew lounge in our Skytress careers. Oh, how this was going to change for us. First we had to find a phone to call scheduling. Cell phones were not prevalent at this time. We, eventually, found a landline phone in one of the briefing rooms. Jennie Lou dialed away. An overwhelmed scheduler eventually answered. Jennie Lou explained our predicament. She informed the scheduler we were past our legal time on duty and needed hotel accommodations. The scheduler gave Jennie Lou a number to call for accommodations. The scheduler was too busy to take care of our situation. Jennie Lou dialed the number numerous times. No one was answering. Jennie Lou was determined to get someone to answer. So, she kept dialing. Eventually, some one did answer the phone. The gentleman was very pleasant. He explained to Jennie Lou that he couldn’t help get hotel rooms for us because he was in the air traffic control tower. Jennie Lou called crew scheduling again. The same scheduler answered. Jennie Lou informed the scheduler she gave us the number for the control tower. The scheduler succumbed and told Jennie Lou she would call her back with hotel accommodations. We waited….and waited. We left the briefing room and headed out to the computer area. We were now slap-happy and frustrated. Jennie Lou climbed over the supervisor duty desk counter to use the phone to call scheduling back. She informed the scheduler we had been waiting for her to call us back, but, she hadn’t. Thus, Jennie Lou was calling HER back. The scheduler told Jennie Lou there were no hotel rooms available for us because of the snow storm. Jennie Lou asked if we could be put on the first flight out of JFK in the morning. The scheduler told Jennie Lou we were not legal to deadhead on a flight. We were going to have to have a legal rest in the crew lounge. The absurdity of this was not lost on us. Jennie Lou insisted on another plan. The scheduler told her she would work on it and get back with us. Silence. More silence. We pulled up our trip on the computer. The scheduler had us now deadheading on a flight out of Newark to Cincinnati. Our flight was leaving in an hour. Jennie Lou called the scheduler back. Jennie Lou informed the scheduler that on the best of days a person cannot get from JFK to Newark in less than an hour and a half. There was absolutely no way we could do it in a snow storm. In utter frustration, Jennie Lou asked to speak with the lead supervisor. Shelly and I looked at each other stunned. It was an unspoken rule at the time that Skytresses and Skyters never asked for a lead supervisor. A few minutes later Jennie Lou was speaking with the lead supervisor. The supervisor immediately put us on a flight from JFK to Atlanta to get us back to Cincinnati. We learned a valuable lesson right there. Eliminate the middleman. Always ask for the lead supervisor.

Ever so tired of the lounge, we headed up to the gates. As we were walking towards the departure gate area for Atlanta, we ran into our pilots from our West Palm to JFK flight. The Captain asked us if we eventually layed over in New York. We informed him we were still on duty. We explained the whole awful…awful….awful story to the pilots. The pilots were flying us to Atlanta. The Captain walked over to the gate agent and told him were were deadheading on his flight. The agent said he wasn’t sure he would be able to get us on the flight. The flight was full. The Captain said we had positive space on the flight. The agent explained to us, “There is POSITIVE space. And there is positive space.” If we weren’t needed to get to Atlanta to work another flight, he didn’t have to put us on the flights if it was full. The Captain told the agent we had been on duty over 24 hours. He told the agent we would be on his flight. The agent weakened his stance. He said the flight would probably fall apart since people wouldn’t be able to get to the airport. Thankfully, this happened and three of us got on the flight.

If you assume that was the end of the story, well,……you didn’t see the proverbial poop hit the fan again. Just like we didn’t. Our flight was delayed taking off because of de-icing and air traffic flow control. The three of us could only laugh at this point. We knew we were going to have to run through the Atlanta airport to make our flight to Cincinnati.

The Atlanta airport no longer has carpet in the concourses. However, the day we had to run to catch our flight to Cincinnati, there was carpet. Brand-spanking -new carpet to be more exact. Our Skytress luggage wheels gripped that carpet and refused to roll easily. We got to the gate for our flight to Cincinnati just in time to see the airplane was pushing back. At one point, flying to Cincinnati was going to get Shelly and I home quicker, since we both commuted. Now that our Cincinnati plane was on its way to Cincinnati without us, it wasn’t going to be quicker. Jennie Lou called scheduling to be placed on the next flight to Cincinnati. She got Shelly and I deviations from deadheading to Cincinnati. Shelly flew home to Norfolk from Atlanta. I flew home to St. Louis from Atlanta. To this day, I am not sure how my crew working my flight to St. Louis knew I had been on duty over 26 hours. I never told them. And I was too tired to ask them. They were kind and compassionate beyond words. When I declined their offers for a beverage and meal, they completely understood. They gave me a pillow and blanket to help me sleep. However, I was too tired to sleep. I closed my eyes and relived the trip over and over again. I was able to sleep when I got home. Later that day, my friend Mary called me. Yes! Mary from my other stories. Mary was now in payroll. She wanted to hear what happened on my trip. She said she was going to make sure Jennie Lou, Shelly and I got paid for everything we were eligible for.

I’ve heard many stories from fellow Skytresses and Skyters about long duty days. A few of them even fell through the legality crack like Jennie Lou, Shelly and I did. None of them have been on duty as long as we were though. I used to have a copy of the trip rotation. Sadly, I lost it somewhere along the way. Jennie Lou still has her copy, though. We’ve laughed about this trip for years. I’m so fortunate I was flying with Jennie Lou and Shelly. We all might have cried if we were flying with other Skytresses or Skyters. Instead we laughed for hours….after hours….after hours. Yes, our duty day story is a long story. Hopefully, for you all though….it was a fabulous-horrible Skytress story, that will keep you all laughing for a long time, too.

Ron used to say all the time that we were night owls. Night owls that preferred to fly early morning flights. It wasn’t always the best combination for our R.E.M. sleep. But, I accomplish so much more in the late hours. Even if that is just binge watching something on Netflix or the Hallmark Channel. So, it has always baffled me as to why it is so darn hard for me to stay up to midnight on New Year’s Eve. The hours from 8pm-midnight are like sloth hours for me. I have celebrated New Year’s Eve in many cities throughout my life and Skytress career. On December 31st, I am completely ready to say goodbye to the current year and hello to the new year. However, I absolutely abhor staying awake on New Year’s Eve until midnight to make it all happen.

When I was a young Skytress, I was excited to fly an all-nighter back to Cincinnati on New Year’s Eve. I was flying with some of my favorite Skytresses and Skyters friends. We, also, had champagne to serve all the passengers at the stroke of midnight. (Well, really it was sparkling wine….but, champagne sounds more festive). I was flying in-charge that night. Staying awake on a plane at night is mentally challenging. The cabin is dark and the passengers are usually sleeping. The idea of waking everyone up to serve them champagne sounded naughty and fun. I relished the idea for hours. The sloth hours until midnight. For awhile, I actually thought time was standing still. It refused to enter the new year. I pleaded to Father Time. Just short of making a horrible deal with the devil…..we made it to midnight. As soon as my watch clicked on 12, I made a PA wishing our passengers a Happy New Year. I told them the crew would be coming through the aisles with champagne….(because it sounded more festive) to celebrate. I happily served my first-class passengers. The first-class passengers happily toasted the New Year at 35,000 feet. We made it to midnight and the new year! Alleluia!!! It would be easy to make it through the rest of the flight. A few minutes later my friend David strolled into first-class. He said there were a couple passengers in the main cabin that were disgruntled. They informed David, according to their watches, it wasn’t officially midnight when I made my PA. After hours of watch-watching, I felt very offended. How dare those coach passengers question my Seiko watch! I had all I could do not to pick up my PA and make another announcement. I wanted to tell those few passengers my watch was set to official airline time. I wanted to inform them I have spent the past few hours watching the small hand ever so slowly make its way to the 12. I wanted to bellow….”Keep your comments to yourself and fix your watches accordingly!” “Oh, and again, Happy New Year”.

I know you won’t be shocked to read I spent numerous Skytress years flying on New Year’s . Well, after my first year of flying that is. My year as a Skytress I didn’t fly on New Year’s Eve or New Year’s Day. Unfortunately, I was flying my Christmas trip when my ears became blocked. I had excruciating sharp pain shooting from both ears down my neck for two days. I felt I was paying the piper for my St. Louis layover on Christmas Eve. When I got home I couldn’t get in to see my primary physician. Fortunately, my Mom donned her Super Mom cape and came to my rescue. My Mom was able to get an appointment with my brother Brian’s pediatrician. I didn’t mind going to see him. Dr. Sharp was once my pediatrician, too. After reading the latest “Highlights” edition in the waiting room, I was called in to see the doctor. Dr. Sharp examined my ears and told me I had severe infections in both ears. I was grounded from flying for two weeks. I don’t remember much from that New Year’s. Strong antibiotics helped me miss the sloth hours until midnight….and the few days that followed.

In the movies, Skytresses and Skyters fly fabulous trips on New Year’s Eve. They arrive to the hotel in time to change into designer couture dresses or tuxedos and attend a marvelous New Year’s Eve party. I’d love to tell you my Skytress New Year’s trips were exactly like this scenario. Sadly, I never traveled with a couture dress that coordinated nicely with my sensible Skytress concourse shoes. In reality, I was mostly on short layovers trying to get some sleep before an early get up. I remember one New Year’s Eve I was at the airport hotel in Albuquerque. I had just fallen asleep when I heard people running up and down the hallway screaming. I could hear them gleefully punching balloons down the hallway. I wondered to myself, “Who celebrates New Year’s Eve at the airport hotel in Albuquerque?” I quickly came to the conclusion I’d see those celebrants on my early flight the next morning. I refused to look at the clock. I told myself it was obviously midnight. I rolled over and tried to get back to sleep. Of course, since it was past midnight and the sloth hours had passed….time sped up fast. Deliriously fast. Before I knew it, I was putting on my sensible Skytress concourse shoes getting ready to go back flying in the new year.

One year I was finally senior enough to have my trip come in on New Year’s Eve day. It was a major Skytress achievement. At the time, I was dating Captain Pilot. Captain Pilot was trying to make it back from Atlanta to Cincinnati to ring in the new year with me. Air traffic control slowed down Captain Pilot’s plane into Atlanta. Captain Pilot told me he was determined to make his deadhead flight home to Cincinnati. He had to run through the Atlanta airport like O.J Simpson to make his flight. But, good- golly, he made it. I know time was flying by at Mach speed for him that evening. On the contrary, it was an utterly sloth-dragging time for me. I was trying to keep busy by making our dinner. However, I couldn’t prepare most of the meal too far in advance. So mostly, I just waited. When Captain Pilot got to the house he was still in Mach mode. I started to make dinner. He jumped in right beside me to help. We were in the middle of getting dinner ready when I looked at him. He was still in his uniform. I started to laugh. I asked him if he was going to eat in his uniform, too. He laughed. As he headed off to change, he said it wouldn’t have been the first New Year’s Eve meal he had eaten in his uniform!

One New Year’s trip my crew and I were laying over at the airport hotel in Newark. It was a short layover. Early in the morning I headed down to the lobby to meet up with my crew. I was anticipating a solitary elevator ride. I was a little startled when the elevator stopped at another floor. Not as startled as I was when the elevator door opened, though. A man and a woman with very dramatic gothic makeup and attire entered the elevator with me. I backed up further in the elevator to make more room for the couple. As I did, I noticed the woman was holding a dog leash. The dog leash was attached to a collar the man was wearing around his neck. This seemed very normal for them. It wasn’t normal for me. Immediately, I had a hundred questions I wanted to ask the couple. But, quite frankly, they scared me a wee bit. I pretended this elevator ride was a normal early morning occurrence for me. When the elevator doors opened to the lobby, I was once again stunned. Most mornings hotel lobbies are very quiet. This morning the lobby was abuzz with people. People not unlike the couple I rode in the elevator with. My eyes bounced from one extravagant looking person to the next. Eventually, I spotted my Skyter friend David. David was standing off to the side holding a cup of coffee taking in the whole scene. I walked over to David trying to act nonchalant about everything and everyone I was observing in the lobby. The first words David spoke were, “I think we are the bizarre looking ones this morning.” He was correct. We were the odd-balls dressed in our airline uniforms. Before I could say anything, David informed me that Howard Stern had taped a New Year’s Eve tv show at the hotel the previous evening. At that moment everything made sense to me. I’m sure it was very exciting for these people to take part in a New Year’s Eve tv special. Though I wondered if at some point in the evening one or more of the participants thought to themselves, “Are we ever going to make it to midnight?”

One year my friends decided to forgo their traditional New Year’s Eve party for a themed New Year’s Eve party. We decided to do a themed party after the year we all dressed up and cooked numerous culinary courses. There were definitely too many courses to cook that year. Even with the help of the sloth hours. Yes, that year almost did us in. We needed to simplify and lighten things up. Thus, the themed party evolved. The following year the New Year’s Eve party was themed, “Back to the 80’s”. Most of us grew up in the 80’s. It was easy to recreate and plan this party. The year after that, the theme was, “A White Trash” New Year’s Eve. Boy, we went all out for this theme. That New Year’s I completely understood the couple I encountered in the elevator in Newark. A dog leash and collar were nothing. Our friend Steph’s costume would have made the elevator couple wonder about her sanity. We didn’t wonder, though. Steph used to be a Skytress! I must confess, the look on the man’s face who delivered the chicken pâté’ that year was priceless. I’m sure it was the same reaction I gave the couple in the elevator in Newark. My friends lived in a very nice area in downtown Chicago. However, for the party, my friends hung a clothes lines through their living room….complete with undergarments hanging on it to enhance the party theme. An ironing board was used as a buffet table. Lawn furniture was placed all around the room. It was an over-the-top “white trash” spectacle. We had a spectacular evening celebrating. Yet, as the evening rolled on… my sloth hours eventually kicked in….just like they do every New Year’s Eve. I once again wondered if I would make it to midnight. Good thing there was an aluminum lawn chair to sit in while I waited for the new year to creep in.

I haven’t stayed awake until midnight the past several New Year’s. Before the sloth hours become unbearable, I am snuggled warmly under my bed covers falling off to sleep. This has become my new New Year’s tradition. I haven’t decided if I will pause this tradition this year. Like everyone else, I desperately want to see 2020 end and 2021 begin. Then again, I think how excited I was last year for the year to start. Three months later, it took an awful… awful… awful… turn. It’s definitely been an exhausting year. Making it to midnight might be asking too much of me this year. Maybe I should continue with my new tradition of going to sleep early. In an exceptionally abnormal year,….I’d like at least ONE normal thing to go as planned.

The first time I was able to bid for vacation as a Skytress, I put the week of Christmas down for my first choice. I, obviously, didn’t hold this vacation. Nonetheless, I would bid this vacation date first every year afterwards. It was considered dream bidding. I knew one day my dream of holding a Christmas vacation would become a reality. I always wanted to be prepared for that day. Thirty years later, I WAS prepared. I wasn’t prepared, though, for the shock of seeing I held a Christmas vacation. It was a Christmas miracle, as far as I was concerned. Ron was senior to me at our airline. He was told to bid two weeks of vacation together to help his odds of holding a Christmas vacation his first round. Even with 30 years under his belt, he couldn’t hold a Christmas vacation. Thus, I figured I had to fly at least thirty-five years to hold a Christmas vacation. Yes, we could bid around the holiday and hold Christmas off. But, there is something victorious about finally being able to hold a Christmas vacation in the airline industry. After the shock of realizing I had vacation over Christmas, I became giddy. Then I became nostalgic. I have incredible Skytress memories from flying with my crews on Christmas. I tell younger, impatient, Skytresses and Skyters their day will come when they will be able to hold a Christmas vacation, too. However, I proclaim to them, some of my most memorable Skytress trips happened when I flew over the holidays…..starting with my first Christmas.

My first Christmas as a Skytress I had a St. Louis layover on Christmas Eve. Normally Skytresses and Skyters bid only once for the next month of flying. When I first started flying we would bid two times for December. This ensured more senior Skytresses and Skyters would hold the holidays off. Some senior people would bid to fly reserve the second part of December to hold the holidays off. Of course, the junior Skytresses and Skyters thought this was unfair. I didn’t mind. I got a lovely taste of “holding a line” the second week of December. I, also, held St. Louis layovers. I told everyone I dreamed bid to get the layovers at home. The reality was, more likely, no one else wanted a St. Louis layover for Christmas. For years, my family went to our friend’s house for a Christmas Eve party. When the Clatt’s heard I would be laying over in St. Louis on Christmas Eve, they asked me to invite my crew to come to their house. I did just that. My crew didn’t want to impose on our holiday. Fortunately, our dear friend, Mary, came to the airport with my Mom to make sure my crew agreed to come to the Clatt’s house. Mary worked for our airline. She and her family were spending the holidays with my family. Yes, Mary is the same person that suggested to me to become a Skytress. You may, also, remember, Mary’s daughters and I have been best friends since we were three and four-years old. I’m so fortunate that Mary convinced everyone to come for Christmas Eve. It is one of my favorite Christmas crew trips. The Clatt’s definitely know how to throw a party. More importantly, they know how to make everyone feel like family. I’m positive my crew didn’t expect to partake in our tradition of singing Christmas songs on Christmas Eve. Remarkably, they sang every song with us. One of my Christmas crewmembers, Veronica, was in my training class. Veronica is a Spanish speaker. Veronica made our holiday more memorable when she sang “Silent Night” in Spanish for us. It was a beautiful Christmas gift. Sadly, I haven’t seen my two Salt Lake based pilots, or my two Atlanta based Skytresses in years. To this day, however, my family and friends still reminisce about this Christmas party. I like to think each year on Christmas Eve, my Christmas crew still reminisces about this trip, too.

One Christmas I flew with a couple of my favorite Skytress friends. We layed over in Tampa on Christmas Day. We had a blast flying together on previous trips. So, we made a conscious decision we would have a grand time flying on Christmas, as well. We arrived in Tampa late Christmas Eve. After sleeping in a wee bit, we decided we would meet to go to breakfast together. As you can imagine, not much was open on Christmas morning. However, Waffle House was open. We were extremely grateful it was open, too. Our meals were filling. The laughter and smiles we shared were glorious. When we left to head back to the hotel, we walked smack-dab down the middle of the road. This only made us laugh harder. Only on Christmas could you walk down the middle of a normally very busy street with not one car passing by. I would have loved to have eaten at Waffle House on another one of my Christmas trips. That Christmas my crew and I got rerouted to Knoxville on Christmas Day. I had a strong feeling when we got our reroute to layover that we better get food before we left the airport. I was grateful we did. The hotel restaurant was closed. There wasn’t an open restaurant in sight either. Not even a Waffle House. That Christmas was also the first year TBS showed the movie, “A Christmas Story” for 24- continuous hours on TV. After watching the movie at least three times, I decided to call it a Christmas and I went to bed. My Christmas wish that holiday was for the trip to be over so we could get back home and celebrate properly with our families…..and get something decent to eat.

I loved to buddy-bid with my friends at Christmas. My friends and I knew based on our seniority we going to work the holiday. We decided we would like to fly the holiday with someone we knew and have a festive time. I used to buddy-bid with my friend Howard……or Skeeter, as I call him. One Christmas we flew to Minneapolis to layover. The crew was picked up in a limousine. The day before I had baked cookies for my crew. While we rode to the hotel I asked everyone if they would like some cookies. One Skytress on my crew accepted my offer. She took a huge bite of the oatmeal cookie. Then she declared in a grinch-like demeanor that there weren’t any raisins in the cookie. Skeeter had my back. He immediately told her I don’t like raisins in my oatmeal cookies. Then he asked her what she brought for the crew. She was speechless. I smiled at Skeeter. He chuckled under his breath. The next day Skeeter and I went to the employee cafeteria in Atlanta on our sit. Skeeter was telling me stories about being in the Marines. We were engrossed in conversations and lost track of time. We were unquestionably late to our next flight. When we got to the gate, the grumpy agent supervisor wanted to know why we were late. Skeeter had been a gate agent prior to being a Skyter. He told the agent he didn’t need to know why we were late…just that we were late. I had an uneasy feeling the supervisor wasn’t going to let our tardiness slide…..even on Christmas Day. After we boarded the plane, Skeeter popped out the boarding music tape and put in his own homemade Christmas music tape. I was amazed he knew how to swap the music out of the aircraft panel. Later when we got to San Francisco I listened to Skeeter’s Christmas music tape. It was a very eclectic mix of Christmas music. I mentioned this to Skeeter later when we walked around San Francisco. Our passengers must have been wondering who picked out the boarding music at our airline. It definitely was different! We eventually flew the all-nighter home to Cincinnati. Skeeter playfully left the Christmas coloring book I put in his stocking on the first-class counter. All through the night, the crew would saunter up to first class and color a page to pass the time. I know the Captain thought we had all lost our minds coloring the Christmas themed pages. Little did we know several years later adult coloring books would become the rage. When we got back to Cincinnati one of the more cantankerous supervisors stopped me in the crew lounge. Thankfully, she still had some Christmas spirit in her. She complimented me on my Christmas sweater. ( when Christmas sweaters weren’t considered ugly) Then she said she got a report that Skeeter and I were late to the gate in Atlanta. She was fully aware our flight departed before the scheduled time. But, she wanted to make sure Skeeter and I didn’t show up late for boarding ever again. I told her we wouldn’t. Santa may have put me on his naughty list right then and there.

Another year, I buddy-bid with my friend Jennie Lou. Yes, Skytress Jennie Lou was whom I flew with when we wore the Christmas bells around our necks. As you may recall, we were to ring our bells when we saw a cute passenger. At Christmas we always wore Santa hats when we preformed our safety demonstration. One year I brought battery-operated Santa hats. When turned on the hat pom-pom moved from one side to the other. My friend’s Mom discovered this jolly Santa hat weeks earlier at a drug store. I picked up my crew’s Santa hats at the drugstore when I was getting more battery-operated Christmas lights. We creatively hung the lights in the galley with bandaids from the galley drawers. We joked we would have to take our Christmas decorations down if someone needed a bandaid. We, also, put Christmas lights on our beverage carts. I don’t know if the passengers enjoyed all our Christmas decorations. But, we did. Jennie Lou, also, wore Christmas socks that made everyone on our crew merry. One flight we weren’t going to to set up our Christmas decorations. Then Mary….yes, the same Mary who came to the St. Louis airport with my Mom my first Christmas flying,…was on our flight going to Pittsburgh. I told my crew we had to bring out the Christmas decorations for Mary’s enjoyment. After all, I became a Skytress because of Mary. We couldn’t be Bah Humbugs on Mary’s flight.

Another Christmas I was flying with more of my Cincinnati friends. We flew into JFK and had to shuttle over to Newark. My Mom had made cookies for my crew. We ate them on the hour and a half drive to the hotel. When we got to the hotel we all piled into one room to watch a movie. I brought Christmas gifts for my crew. When we piled into my room, Skytress Wanda, thanked me for her Christmas ornament. Our friend David moaned in a joking way. He told Wanda they were all supposed to open their gifts together as a crew. This made us all laugh. The next day we flew to Los Angles to layover. Skytress Terri’s family flew out there with us. David came up to first-class during the flight and told me they had Terri’s daughter help them pick up the trash. She loved it. She was our honorary Skytress. When we went to dinner in LA, Terri’s daughter was disappointed that she had to go eat with her parents and not the rest of “her” crew. That evening we ate outside in the comfortable December LA weather. We admired all the boats in the marina that were decorated with Christmas lights. Fantastic friends and Christmas lights always make the holidays brighter when you fly.

I loved bringing my crew Christmas gifts when I flew the holiday. Being Irish, I would always give my crew Irish Christmas ornaments. One Christmas I helped the gate agents in St. Louis board the airplane. Unfortunately, I forgot to grab my Christmas bag of gifts when I eventually boarded the plane to commute to Atlanta. While on my flight, I tried to convince myself I put the Christmas bag in the overhead bin. I didn’t. I felt awful awful awful that I didn’t have gifts to give my crew. The next year I was in the crew lounge in Tampa. I had my Christmas gift bag next to my crew bags. When I went up to the gate I forgot to bring my Christmas bag with me. I know the gate agent supervisor wasn’t happy I ran back to the crew lounge to get it. But, I wasn’t going to start a tradition of leaving my Christmas bag behind every year. The looks on my Christmas crew’s faces when I gave them their presents was well-worth the sprint back to the crew lounge.

One Christmas my crew and I had a Christmas miracle. Scheduling needed a crew to fly to Portland, Maine at the last minute. Scheduling asked me if my crew would help them out by working the flight. In return, they would let us deadhead back to Cincinnati on the first flight and be off the rest of Christmas Day. I asked my crew what they would like to do. The scheduler promised us they wouldn’t change their mind about releasing us in the morning. So, we all agreed to fly to Portland. Scheduling kept their Christmas promise. We all made it back home for a full day of Christmas with our families. I know I was home in St. Louis by 0930. Just a few hours after Santa made it back home to the North Pole.

I love holding a Christmas vacation these days to ensure I am home with my family for the holiday. That being said, I loved spending Christmas with my airline family. Christmas crews are extra-special crews. Even Santa knows this. Santa, also, knows some of the best Christmas gifts don’t always come under the Christmas tree. The memories I made flying with my Christmas crews have been some of the best Christmas gifts I have ever received. I will cherish them forever. I readily admit, though, I will be very happy to have breakfast at home again this year…..and not at Waffle House! Merry Christmas everyone.

I was flying out of our International E Concourse the other week in Atlanta. As my crew and I were heading to the gate, we saw a display of vintage lunch boxes along one of the walls. Since we had time before we had to be at our gate, we stopped and looked at the lunch boxes. My fellow Skytresses and I took a much needed trip down memory lane. We laughed as we recalled going off to school with our beloved lunch boxes. There were several lunch boxes displayed that I had as a child. I was overjoyed to see my two Snoopy lunch boxes made the display. You know how much I love Snoopy and the Peanuts gang! If you don’t…you are about to find out.

When I was little my favorite toy was the Picture Maker featuring Peanuts. It was made by Mattel. The toy came with grids I traced to draw the Peanuts characters. Nothing made me happier than seeing the characters come to life on my paper. A few years ago, someone was selling the toy on EBay. I was a blockhead! I didn’t buy it. If I ever see the toy for sale again, I am definitely going to buy it. I, also, had the Snoopy Sno-Cone machine. The best frosty treats came complements of Snoopy. Happily, they still make these machines. I may have to ask Santa to bring me one this year. After months of living in a world with COVID-19, a Snoopy Sno-cone sounds pretty darn good. My brother, Sean, had “The Charle Brown Dictionary” when we were younger. No one hated looking up a word when you had “The Charlie Brown Dictionary”. Merriam-Webster could learn a lot from Good Ol’ Charlie Brown. Learning is so much more fun when Charle Brown and his friends are teaching you. I have Sean’s Charlie Brown Dictionary now. Good grief! I hope he doesn’t ask for it back. If he does, “I’m doomed”, as Charlie Brown would say.

I was notorious for giving and sending Peanuts cards to my family and friends when I was younger. Who am I kidding? I still give and send them. What can I say? Charles Schulz’s cast of characters always articulate the perfect sentiment for the perfect occasion. I must admit. I, also, have my fair share of Peanuts Christmas wrapping paper. Not everyone gets their presents wrapped in this paper. No, you have to be Snoopy Joe Cool, get your presents wrapped in Peanuts paper. Funny enough, sometimes the gift inside is actually a Peanuts gift. Lucy Van Pelt would say, “Rats” to this. We all know if Lucy could chose her gift, she would chose…. real estate. In December our pilots can choose to wear a Christmas tie with their uniforms. I once gifted a Snoopy Christmas tie to the pilot I was dating. He loved it. I knew he would. He and Snoopy are kindred spirits. After all, they both are Flying Ace pilots. Unfortunately, Boomer never learned to fly a doghouse. Or should I say, a Sopwith Camel biplane. However, Snoopy does have his wings and Honorary Pilot Certificate from my airline. It goes without saying, I would definitely be a Skytress on one of Snoopy’s flights.

I have received many Snoopy and Peanuts gifts throughout the years. I cherish all of them. I have a Peanuts snow globe, a Peanuts coffee table book, Snoopy stuffed animals, an over-sized Snoopy Pez candy dispenser and Peanuts character Christmas ornaments,….just to name a few of my treasured items. My niece, Jill, even gave me a lovely Peanuts necklace a few years ago. Good grief, it makes me and everyone happy when I wear it. When I dated Mr. West Point, he gave me an Army Snoopy Christmas ornament and the complete collection of Peanuts DVD’s. He, also, gave me a suitcase full of Peanuts story books. He didn’t want them. Aaugh! He was the ultimate blockhead! I gleefully read all the books on my flight from Phoenix to Cincinnati. When I got home to Cincinnati I frame a few of my favorite books and hung them in my guest room. They are now happily hanging in my art room in St. Louis.

I have a framed, “The Peanuts Movie”, theatre poster hanging in my basement. I walk past it whenever I go to do the laundry. Some days I stop and look at it for awhile. All the Peanuts characters are sitting in a movie theater. I am mesmerized by each and every one of them. They fill my heart and soul with immense happiness. My niece, Jill, gave me the poster the day after Ron died. Jill had planned days prior to give me the poster when I came in from my trip. When she learned Ron had died, she wasn’t sure she would bring it over. I am so grateful she did. Somehow my beloved characters breathed life to my broken heart. Ron knew Snoopy and the Peanuts gang brought me absolute joy. He most assuredly knew how excited I was for “The Peanuts Movie” to come out. I constantly reminded him of the release date. When “The Peanuts Movie” came out, I went to see the movie with my sister, Patti, and her family. Her daughter, Jamie, loves Snoopy as much as I do. We both eagerly waited months for the movie to come to the theater. We were not disappointed. After spending our lifetimes watching Snoopy and the Peanuts gang on TV, seeing the characters come to life on a movie screen was purely magical. Ron laughed later that day when I recounted our time at the movie. Ron later told me he wanted to take his son, Brendan, to see the movie when they were in Florida. He thought it would be a great movie for them to see together. I knew it would be. As Charles Schulz wrote, “Happiness is a warm puppy”. Especially when the puppy is Snoopy and he is in a movie with all of his wonderful Peanuts friends.

Snoopy and the Peanuts gang have been bringing families together for years. My family always watched the Peanuts TV specials together. Especially “A Charlie Brown Christmas”. Everyone in my family sat around our kitchen table reading the Peanuts comic strips in the newspaper. I loved watching everyone’s expression as they got to the last cell on the comic strip. There was usually a hearty chuckle followed by a satisfying smile. Now as a Skytress, I love catching our passengers reading the Peanuts comics while on the airplane. You can, also, be assured, my Irish eyes smile when a passenger boards the airplane wearing a Peanuts t-shirt. I am doubly-elated when I see a child carrying a much loved Snoopy stuffed-animal down the aisle. Yes, the Peanuts characters are timeless. Charles Schulz knew how to captivate the world for years with his characters. The day Charles Schulz passed away I was crestfallen. I felt the same way when my favorite baseball manager, George Anderson, died. Ironically, both these men went by the nickname, Sparky. After Sparky Schulz died, I had my heart set on buying an original Peanuts cartoon cell. Now that I am older, I know I don’t have to have an original Charles Schulz cartoon cell to be any happier. No, just seeing those Snoopy lunch boxes on display in the airport brought me utter joy. Good grief. Snoopy, Charlie Brown, Lucy, Linus, Schroeder and the rest of the Peanuts gang have brought me pure joy all my life. They have faithfully followed me everywhere like Linus’ trusty security blanket. Just as Linus refuses to get rid of his beloved blanket, I refuse to give up my beloved Snoopy and Peanuts gang. Good grief. Only a complete blockhead would do that.

There is always one family member that is the most excited to see us come home….and the saddest to see us leave. Yep, it’s the family dog. Well, at least it is in our family. Our dog Finley is the most excited to see me come home from flying. She twirls and wiggles and taps her feet in sheer exuberance. All is right in Finley’s world when I come home from being a Skytress. On the contrary, when it is time to go fly, I know Finley is thinking, “Dagnabbit! She’s leaving again!” This week I actually left on her birthday. I know. Shame on me! It’s okay. I have felt guilty about this for days. Yesterday,…Sunday, Finley turned 12. Don’t worry. We celebrated early. Yes, my guilty conscience got the best of me. We will celebrate again when I come home on Tuesday. There’s my guilty conscience again. Fortunately for Finley, I’ll be off for the rest of the month. It can’t get better than that for my four-legged friend. Well, maybe a puppy cup from Starbucks would make it better for Finley. So, of course, on Wednesday, we will go get one of those, too. Guilt won’t make me do this. No, one of my simple pleasures in life is seeing Finley enjoy her cup of whip cream from Starbucks.

It may come as a shock to some, but, Finely is actually not my dog. No, she is my brother Brian’s dog. Finley was Brian’s Christmas gift 12 years ago. Brian picked her out when she was only a few weeks old. She was the cute and feisty Goldendoodle puppy of her litter. Brian thought she was perfect. However, when Finley got older and much much bigger, she somehow became my dog. I don’t mind. Finley is a wonderful dog. Most days she is delightful entertainment. More importantly, she has been faithfully following me everywhere I go for years. I, apparently, make her happy and she definitely makes me happy. We couldn’t ask for anything more.

When Finley was a puppy we brought her to obedience school. Finley was a quick learner. She learned to obey all of our commands. Then she learned to turn the tables on us and made us obey all HER commands. Throughout the years, her list of commands,…or shall we say, demands,….has grown. Our days are spent making her happy. She likes it best this way. Finley has taught us it is our duty to pet her constantly. She would love it if we petted her 24-hours a day. But, she realizes we are only human. Thus, she grants us a handful of Finely pet-free minutes a day. However, when Finley feels it is absolutely necessary to have a puppy massage, she will tap us with her doggie paw to get her demands met. I learned years ago when a dog gives you their paw, it is their way of saying they love you. All our years together has taught us, when Finley gives us her paw, she is assuredly telling us, “I love you….now pet me.”

To my sheer delight, Finley is a snow dog. There was snow on the ground when she was born in Cuba. That would be Cuba, MO, and not Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. (I’m just clarifying this for those of you that have read my previous blog post about Guantanamo Bay.) There was, also, snow on the ground when we brought Finley home. Snow is what Finley loves best. I guess it is in her DNA, like it is in mine. As you may recall, I was born in Montana. I love snow. My love for snow, is without a doubt, in my DNA. Yes, God paired us up nicely. Finley definitely understands the word, “snow”. If you say it she will immediately run to the window and look outside. Snow is magical to Finley. She can’t go outside fast enough to frolic in it. Finley’s first stop is always at her “snow bush”. Finley loves to eat her fill of the white stuff sitting on top of the boxwood bush next to our patio. She actually buries her head in the bush to make sure she gets only the finest snow flakes. Without fail, it is always to her liking. The snow on top of the bush will tide her over until she gets fed her allotment of snowballs. Finley is, as Ron would say, “Awful, awful, awful”, at catching anything thrown to her. Unless, it is a snowball! Yes, Finley will twist and leap high into the cold winter air to catch each and every snowball thrown to her. I have to be very careful when I shovel the snow. Finley thinks it is one ginormous snowball and tries to catch the shovel-full of snow, as I toss it to the side of the driveway. I must confess. One of my many quirks is that I love to shovel snow. Finley relishes this quirk of mine. It means more time outside in the snow for her. Finley is sad when I finish shoveling the driveway. Thankfully, for Finley, Mother Nature likes to send snow our way several times during the winter.

Finley is not just a family dog, Finley is a working dog. Finley used to carry the newspaper into the house every morning when we got the paper delivered.. Well, unless there was snow outside. Then she would flip the paper around in the snow-covered yard. Yes, it was her way of of forcing me to play in the snow with her. Finley is a very clever dog. She knows it, too. She will do everything she can to get her needs met. Finley’s current job these days is barking at 930am to make sure we take Brian to work. Then she barks at 150pm to make sure we pick him up. It is, also, Finley’s job to come get me and let me know the mailman has delivered the mail. She insists I get it as soon as it is delivered. I think Finley feels to do otherwise would be rude. After all, the mailman delivered it specifically for us to go outside and retrieve it. Being part retriever, Finely takes retrieving things quite seriously. Finely, also, has her puppy patrol job. This is a very demanding 24/7 job for Finley. She mans her post from the front dining room window or from her favorite spot in the foyer. Finely will alert us if someone is walking down the street. Especially, if they have a another dog with them. Finley is very protective of her house. No other dog shall enter her jurisdiction. Well, unless it is my sister’s dog Charlie. She begrudgingly lets him enter. They are the best of friends and the worst of friends. When the pandemic started Finley’s was exhausted from all her puppy patrolling. For the first time in her life, there was an excessive amount of neighbors walking up and down her street. Finley spent her days alerting us to the endless amount of quarantine walkers invading her patrol area. With the constant flow of walkers, Finely could barely fit in a doggie nap. Eventually, Finley would only bark if the objectionable humans had a dog with them. Yes, the pandemic has not only been too much for us humans, it, also, has been too much for Finley, too.

We, for better or worse, have an abundance of deer in our neighborhood. The deer have become very used to us humans. People can walk down one side of the street and the deer will be on the other side calmly eating. We humans, deer watch. The deer, human watch. Finley watches the deer from her puppy patrol post. There was a time Finley used to bark ferociously at the deer. Now we just tell her the O’Deers are just outside eating their dinner. She seems to understand this concept. Finley will sit at the window and watch them eat. She is fascinated by them. Amazingly, they are not as fascinated by her. If I notice deer outside eating and Finley is in another room, I’ll call to her. I’ll tell her the O’Deers are having dinner and she will come and watch them. If we are riding in the car and I see deer, I will point them out to Finley. Finley is always excited to look out the window and see the O’Deers. It’s very evident Finley likes the Irish O’ Deers. It shouldn’t surprise us though. After all, Finley is our Irish dog.

Finley’s favorite pastime is going for car rides. Like most dogs, Finley likes to stick her head out the window. When she isn’t poking her head towards the wind, she sits at the window like a kid riding a school bus. Now, my sister’s dog Charlie is another story. One day I had Finely and Charlie in my car. I was driving through the neighborhood. Both dogs were happily sticking their heads out both sides of the passenger’s windows in the row behind me. As I came to a stop sign, Charlie jumped out of his window. I was shocked. Finley was shocked. The teenage-girl pulling out of her driveway was shocked. Charlie is a Goldendoodle like Finley. He is a very smart dog. He just isn’t smart enough to know you don’t jump out the car window to catch a squirrel. When I got Charlie back inside my car, I put him in the third row. Finley kept looking back at Charlie to make sure he didn’t jump through the window again. Charlie could still feel the breeze from the cracked window in front of him. Charlie was happy. Finley was happy. I was happy. Well, mostly I was relieved Charlie survived his window escape. I was more relieved when my sister and her family laughed about Charlie jumping through my car window.

There is a Goldendoodle in the Minneapolis airport that looks like Finley. This Goldendoodle is a service animal who’s job is to comfort passengers that may have anxiety from traveling. Passengers can pet the dog to feel better. I rarely have anxiety from traveling. But, I always pet the Minneapolis airport dog because she is so darn cute. The Minneapolis airport Goldendoodle reminded Ron of Finley. He said Finley would be a great airport comfort dog. I agreed with Ron. Finley would love it. As you now know, Finley loves to be petted. She loves going to the farmer’s market for this very reason. Free pets. Ron, also, thought Finely was the coolest dog. He would tell me this on numerous occasions. However, she wasn’t his favorite dog. That title belonged to his sister’s family dog, Koda. Ron proudly said Finley was his second favorite dog. We didn’t disclose this information to Finley, though. Finley likes to think she is EVERYONE’S favorite dog.

So, you may be wondering about Fat Head Finely. Well, Finley has several nicknames. We call her Finn, Finnie, Fluffy, and even Finnie Foo Foo. One day my Mom took Finley to the groomers. A lady there asked my Mom if Finley was a Standard Poodle. My Mom told the woman that Finley was a Goldendoodle ….a Golden Retriever and Standard Poodle mix. The woman said, ” I THOUGHT she had a fat head!” My Mom was surprised by the ladies comment. My Mom, however, is very quick-witted. Without missing a beat, my Mom told the lady, ” We call her Fat Head Finley”. And so it stuck. We don’t call Finley this much. As you can imagine, no one really likes being called a Fat Head.

Even though Finley just turned 12, she still thinks she is a puppy. Unfortunately, the years are catching up with her a wee bit more these days. Finley can no longer jump up onto my high four-poster bed. She has even recently given up jumping on the guest bed in her room. Sadly, the spring in her hind legs isn’t as bouncy after 12 years. When Finley could no longer jump up on my four-poster bed, she would sleep under it. Unfortunately, the past few weeks it has been harder for her to drag her 12-year old body out from under the bed. So, Finley now sleeps in the hallway or on the couch in the living room. At the last resort, she sleeps in her condo. (We call her dog crate a condo because it is so huge.) When it rains now, Finely will head to the bathtub to take shelter instead of crawling under something like she used to do. I did buy Finley an orthopedic dog bed for her weary bones. But, she refuses to lay on it unless she is being fed doggie treats. No, Finley believes she is still too young to resort to an orthopedic doggie bed. Most days Finley can still jump up into my Suburban. On a rare occasion, though, she will wait for me to lift her into the car. Happily, Finley still greets me every day like the puppy she thinks she is when I come home from flying. It’s a treat for both of our weary souls. I pray Finley has many more birthdays. I don’t like to think about the day Finely will no longer be here to greet me. So, I don’t think about it. Yes, there are many more happy days to think about, instead. We will definitely take many more car rides to the farmer’s market for her free-petting sessions. We will happily go for more puppy cups at Starbucks. We will, also, play with her squeaky toys for infinite hours. We will do whatever Finley wants to do. After all, Finley has trained us extremely well to be Finley-obedient.

There are certain moments in life we remember, without a doubt, where we were when something significant happened. I was in Chattanooga when I heard Prince had died. I was in Las Vegas when the Cubs finally won the World Series. I was sitting on the couch in my friend Tara’s house, in Peachtree City, when she told me about Pinterest. What is Pinterest? I’d be more than happy to tell you. Pinterest is the slippery slope into the Devil’s living room.

For years, I was I collector of torn out magazine pages. If there was a recipe I liked….rrriiippp,…..I tore it out of the magazine for safe keeping. If there was a project I thought I might like to do….rrriiippp,…out of the magazine it came. If there was a gardening idea or outfit that I liked…..rrriiippp,…it was out of the magazine before it became yesterday’s news. Now because I am a neat-nick, I had all these torn-out pages nicely filed away for future reference for when I needed them. Sadly, most of these tattered pages never saw the light of day ever again. When Tara explained to me what Pinterest was, I became ecstatic. She explained I could go on this website and look up recipes, gardening ideas, fashion ideas, craft ideas,…whatever tickled my fancy…. and create a “board” to “pin” the ideas on. Later, I could go back on Pinterest and easily find my saved ideas. I could also get ideas from the Pinterest website to save. In addition, I could follow my friends boards and see what they were interested in. Instead of asking my friends for a recipe, I could go search their Pinterest board and retrieve it myself. I no longer had to tear pages out of magazines or quickly write a recipe down hoping I got all the ingredients and steps. I was hooked! I quickly became a Pinterest fanatic. I tossed all my files away and I never looked back. I have no idea who started Pinterest. But, I believe they should be awarded the Noble Peace Prize. We could even look on Pinterest to get ideas on where to place it in the recipient’s home. Or even get directions on how to build the perfect trophy case to display it in. The Pinterest ideas are limitless.

I remember the day I told my Skyter friend Wyll about Pinterest. We were sitting in the E-Concourse in Atlanta waiting for our plane. Wyll was telling me about the cookbook he was writing based on family recipes. I asked Wyll if he had ever heard of Pinterest. He had not. So, I took out my iPad and showed him how Pinterest worked. Weeks later, I was in the crew lounge when Wyll walked in. He looked at me, laughed, and told me I was the devil for showing him all about Pinterest. He was hooked on the website, too. Wyll is extremely creative. His house could be on the cover of Southern Living Magazine or Architectural Digest. I follow Wyll on Pinterest to see what fabulous ideas he is going to bring to fruition. Thankfully, Wyll posts pictures on his Facebook page. It is sheer enjoyment for me to look at his posts. Of course, after I look at Wyll’s pictures, I get inspired and go back on Pinterest to search more ideas. Yep, Pinterest is a slippery slope I am constantly sliding down.

Ron and I rarely looked at our phones or computers when we were with each other. This was extremely refreshing. However, Ron knew about my love for Pinterest. Yes, Pinterest came up in conversations all the time. Most days when I was on a layover, Ron would call and see how I was doing. More times than I can count, I told him I was doing great. Then I would usually add I was just perusing Pinterest. This would always make both of us laugh. When Ron was busy doing something around the house, I would occasionally take the opportunity to take a look-see at Pinterest. Inevitably, Ron would catch me. My Pinterest-loving smile would always give me away. In spite of this, Ron would smile back and innocently ask me if I was checking out Pinterest. Usually, my all-to-familiar response to him was, “I’m slipping down the slope AGAIN!” Without skipping a beat, he’d chuckle and say, “You’re funny”. I usually put my iPad away after he asked if I was on the website. Pinterest is fun for me. But, it definitely wasn’t more fun than Ron. Ron trumped Pinterest every time.

I am very fortunate that I have a designated art room in my house. I love to tinker in there either painting or using my Cricut machine to design items. When the pandemic started and we all began to quarantine, I spent a lot of time in my art room looking at Pinterest for creative inspiration. One day I saw something that peaked my interest. It was jewelry stamping. It looked easy. My mind was filled with all the lovely jewelry pieces I was going to make. So, I decided I would buy the recommended tools and start stamping. Early on, I learned there is a definite learning curve to jewelry stamping. Who knew hitting a letter on a silver piece could be so difficult and frustrating? There is also some obvious noise to stamping. My poor dog Finley is not a fan of this activity. Fortunately for both of us, I eventually went back flying and put my jewelry stamping items away. One day when I was on a layover, I was sliding down the slippery slope AGAIN. I instantly became intrigued with clay ornament stamping when I was scrolling through Pinterest. I spent hours on the website looking at clay stamped ornaments. I decided that night, I’m going to try my hand at clay ornament stamping. However, I need to get Christmas up around the house first. I, also, have a few Pinterest Christmas decorating ideas I want to tackle before I tackle the ornament stamping. Oh, and I have a few new Pinterest Christmas cookies I’m dying to bake. Darn you Pinterest! There aren’t enough days to fit it all in. If only I had seen the clay ornament stamping in March and April. As we know all-to-well, those months never seemed to end.

I must confess, I have had my fair share of Pinterest disasters. Apparently, so have many other Pinterest followers. There are actually “Pinterest fail” websites. People post their inspirational Pinterest pictures. Then they post pictures of their failed attempts at recreating the Pinterest item. I discovered these sites when my Easter Bunny bread rolls, …that appeared extremely simple to make,….turned out to be the hardest things to replicate. After seeing the bunny bread roll fail posts, I didn’t feel so bad. Mine looked much better than most. I laughed so hard at some of the pictures I felt instantly better. Albert Einstein had a quote that I shared with Ron once. Albert said, “A ship is always safe at shore. But, that is not what it is built for.” Ron loved this quote. I love the quote, too. I am built to create. If I fail, oh well. I know I have learned something in the process that is just as valuable. I create because my soul positively craves it. I can’t stay safely at the shore. No, I have to steer my creative ship out into the open waters and see where it takes me.

I am quick to say that Pinterest is the slippery slope into the Devil’s living room. I can get lost on the Pinterest website for hours. One idea starts me searching in multiple directions. Before I know it, I have gone happily astray on the website. In actuality though, Pinterest is a happy outlet for my creative side. It gives me great pleasure to see what others are doing in the world. All the creativity and inspiring ideas on the website are staggering. Pinterest has also been an inspiration for me in another way. Many times I read the sidebar about the person who’s post I’ve clicked on. Happily, I’ve discovered these people aren’t very different than me. This knowledge actually gave me the courage to start my blog. Yes, Pinterest has been a beautiful blessing I never knew I needed in my life. The more I think about Pinterest, the more I realize it’s not the Devil’s living room. No, it is my Heavenly living room. I can’t thank my best friend Tara enough for opening the door to this sanctuary for me. Although, I will definitely try to find something on Pinterest to quote, make or bake to try to express my gratitude towards her. You can be assured, though, it just won’t be those darn Pinterest Easter Bunny bread rolls!