The Rerouted Skytress

This Sunday was Palm Sunday. Like every week since COVID -19, I attended Mass on-line. However, this Palm Sunday, I was more hopeful for the future. Last Palm Sunday, we were in the early stages of the pandemic. This time last year I wasn’t sure about much of anything. Well, I was definitely sure of one thing…. pandemics are awful, awful, awful! Yep, I am not a fan of pandemics. I even told God this. You know…in case he was in Heaven wondering about my thoughts on this particular topic. I was, also, sure I was going to do my part to make the pandemic end as quickly as it started. Yep, I told this to God, too. You know…in case he was in Heaven wondering what I was planning to do now that we had a pandemic. Like I said, last year I watched Palm Sunday on my iPad. When the priest mentioned we could drive up to church later that day to get our blessed Palms, I drove up there. Like I said, I was doing my part to end the pandemic. Irish Catholics are very superstitious. I didn’t want to jinx the world by not getting my blessed Palms. Yep,…I told this to God, too.

Palm Sunday is a very special day for Catholics for the obvious religious reasons. It is also special to Catholics for the non- obvious reasons. Yes, it’s the final week of surviving life without the things we gave up for Lent. Ah, yes, our Lenten sacrifices. I’m sure you have heard many Catholics talk about what they are giving up…or gave up…for Lent. We sort of make a big deal about it. Not because it is a beautiful thing to do. Even though it is. No. Mostly, we talk about it because it’s hard to give up things. Especially, things we love. All during Lent we talk about how on Easter Sunday the first thing we are going to do is…..enjoy what we gave up for Lent. Well, except for those who gave up swearing. I know many Catholics give up swearing for Lent. However, not too many admit they can’t wait until Easter Sunday so they can swear like a sailor again. No, the big thing Catholics talk about doing on Easter Sunday, usually entails eating something they gave up. I guarantee thousands of Catholics give up sugar items for Lent….particularly candy….especially chocolate. Many Catholics, also choose to give up their favorite drink for Lent. For many of people, this is soda. . When I was younger I usually gave up drinking soda for Lent. There were many Easter mornings I woke up and immediately drank a soda. Alleluia!!!…It was the most glorious thing as far as I was concerned. Ironically, now that I am older, I no longer drink soda. Go figure.

One Lent I decided I wasn’t going to give something up. No, I decided I was going to rejoice every day of Lent by doing something special. Yes, we Catholics have this option, too. It’s actually God approved. This particular Lent God spoke to my heart to chose this option. I chose to do something special for Ron during Lent. Ron could be very hard on himself at times. This made me sad. I always told Ron I wish he could see himself through my eyes. He was such an incredible human being. So, for Lent that year, I decided I would text him one thing each day that I admired and loved about him. Of course, my list was much longer than there are days of Lent. But, each morning I happily texted him one of his many special qualities. Some days Ron would reply with a witty text. He couldn’t help it. Humor was one of his best qualities. Some days he would simply say thank you. I know on these days his soul needed be reminded God blessed him with this marvelous trait. For Easter I gave Ron a booklet which contained each attribute I had texted him during Lent. I wanted him to have a tangible reminder of all his wonderful God-given qualities.

The next year for Lent I decided I would send Ron a quote to start each day. Ron loved to read. He loved things that made him think and touched his soul. We definitely had this in common. I actually have a Pinterest board were I pin quotes that speak to me in some way. Some are thought provoking quotes. Others are silly quotes that make my soul smile. I texted Ron a little of each type. After all, variety is the spice of life, right? One quote I sent Ron really surprised him. It was a quote by Albert Einstein. Ron loved quantum physics, the Black Hole, and a plethora of science topics. He loved to talk about Tesla….you know, the person Nikola Tesla, not the car. He, also, thoroughly enjoyed talking about Albert Einstein. Albert Einstein’s quote that peaked Ron’s interest was, “ A ship is always safe at the shore. But, that is not what it is built for”. Ron talked about this quote on numerous occasions. I think this quote spoke to him for several reasons. First, he was amazed Einstein said it. Let’s face it, Albert was known more for physics than philosophy. Second, Ron loved the reference to a ship on the water. One of Ron’s favorite things in life was being out on the water on a boat. One of my favorite things to do was sing Kenny Loggins’ “Return to Pooh Corner” to Ron. So, of course, I had to text Ron a quote from Winnie the Pooh. It was a quote from Tigger. Ron laughed at this quote. Which was what I had intended. That’s what I loved about Ron. He was extremely intelligent and had a phenomenal sense of humor.

The last Lenten list I created for Ron was his “song of the day” list. Anyone who knew Ron, knew he loved music. All kinds of music. What better way to start a music lover’s day than with a song,…right? Needless to say, this was the most joyful Lenten list to compile. It should be noted that I am not a very good singer. Actually, I’m pretty awful. So, I usually never sing around anyone. Incredibly, though, I sang with Ron all the time. We couldn’t help ourselves. Something would trigger a song in our heads and we would break out singing. Not surprisingly, some of those songs made the Lenten list. My list of songs for Lent was very diverse. Obviously, most songs on the Lenten list meant something extra- special to us. There were other songs I added to the list simply because I loved them. I knew Ron would appreciate them as well. I know Ron thoroughly loved my quirky list of songs. How did I know this? Well, he would tell me, of course! Happily, many days Ron reciprocate and he would text me my song for the day. He continued to do this long after Lent, too. Ron’s repertoire of music was vastly greater than mine. So, many times I had to google the song he deemed my song for the day. Ron would tease me for doing this. But, I didn’t mind. I love music. Unfortunately, I don’t remember the names of songs or who sang them. I clearly was not born with this gene. No. I was born with the Google gene, instead.

I didn’t give anything up for Lent this year. I, also, didn’t create any Lenten lists. Instead, I’ve been listening to the songs on the list I made for Ron. Not surprisingly, the songs still fill my soul. I’ve, also, been looking over my favorite quotes on Pinterest. There are over a thousand quotes on my Pinterest board. I know. That’s a lot. I tried to delete some. But, I can’t. All those saved quotes still inspire me. Hey, inspiration from music and much loved quotes during an awful pandemic is a beautiful thing. Of course, I don’t have to tell this to God in Heaven. No. He knows. It’s actually God approved. Have a blessed Holy Week my dear friends. Happy Easter.

Whew! It’s been quite a year for all of us. This time last year I was in my grocery store dumbstruck as people shopped while wearing plastic gloves and N95 face masks. A mask mandate was not in effect yet for my St Louis County. Unlike the people in my grocery store, I was taking a wait and see approach with COVID-19. I was adamant I was not going to get swept up in all the hysteria. Heck, I had St. Patrick’s Day to worry about.

The next week I was flabbergasted when I went to the grocery store. Yes, as we all know now….all the toilet paper was missing! The meat, eggs and milk products were also running low. I was no longer keeping a wait and see approach. Skytresses know about hoarding…..This was hoarding! I started to take a defensive shopping approach. I was going to make sure I stocked my basket while there were still things to buy. I took great pride in the fact that no one could tell I was an off-duty Skytress on a covert grocery store hoarding mission. That’s the beauty of being a Skytress or Skyter. We smile through everything. Only another Skytress or Skyter would be able to see the hoarding gleam in my eyes. I wasn’t wearing a face mask at this point in the new COVID-19 world. However, I was absolutely keeping my distance from the other shoppers. Skytresses and Skyters are professionals when it comes to keeping a healthy distance from potential virus carrying people.

Astonishingly, the next time I went to the grocery store I had to give myself a pep talk just to walk inside. It was similar to the pep talk I give myself before I do a New York to Florida flight. I told myself I could do it. I tried to convince myself it wouldn’t be as bad as I’ve made it out to be in my mind. I did wash my hands in the portable sink outside the grocery store before I walked into the newly designated “Entrance Only” side. I don’t know who thought of the sink….but, I have a huge suspicion a Skytress or Skyter suggested it. Yes, we know things! Yep, especially how gross people can be when it comes to cleanliness. Stunningly, when I went to check out there was a uniform security officer standing at the front of the store. They were there to deal with customers who were not adhering to the “one item only” signs. Mostly they were there to stop the toilet paper hoarders…..Only there wasn’t any toilet paper to hoard. I was relieved I didn’t need to buy toilet paper. No, unbeknownst to us, my family had won the toilet paper lottery. We had received our Amazon shipment of toilet paper and paper towels before the world went hoarding crazy. My poor niece in college couldn’t find any toilet paper anywhere near her school. Like everyone in the early days of the pandemic I was debating how much I loved her. Did I love her enough to give her some of our coveted toilet paper? Of course, I did. I didn’t have to though. Thankfully, my sister found and mailed her camping toilet paper. Whew!…for that discovery!

Today when I went into the grocery store I still wore my face mask. Amazingly, it was the first time in a year I could use either entrance into the store. It was like having a Known Crew Member entrance. And everyone going in and out of the store was a known crew member!Happily, the grocery store shelves have been stocked for months. When I walked down the paper aisle to get some parchment paper, I smiled. On the other side of the aisle the shelves were stocked with paper products. No one is hoarding it anymore. However, being the ever diligent hoarding Skytress, I admit I have rolls of paper towels and toilet paper stocked in my basement. I even have extra cleaning products and liquid soap. Hey, I know what it’s like to go from coast to coast on a plane without enough supplies. I’m not going through another pandemic without extra supplies. Whew! Let’s all pray we never have to go through another pandemic, though. One pandemic is enough for me.

Last Monday I got my 1st vaccine shot. It was the first day tier 3 people were allowed to receive their shots in Missouri. Whew! I was so relieved when I got my email on Saturday stating I could finally schedule my appointment. Skytresses and Skyters in other states have been getting vaccinated for weeks. I’m also relieved to know that when I go back flying on March 29th, I will be protected 60% with just the 1st shot. Then after I fly that trip, I will get my second vaccination. You can bet, I will be counting the 14 days after my second shot until I will be fully vaccinated. Our airline even has an app to update our vaccination status. The other day I was thrilled to check the box stating I received my first vaccination. Who knows how I will react when I get my second shot. I may just cry happy Skytress tears when I update my status to received second shot. Whew! I’ve been waiting for this day for a long time. But,…Haven’t we all!?

I know everyone has been waiting a long time for the return of an actual beverage service on our flights. When Skytresses and Skyters are looking forward to a regular in-flight service,…whew!…you know it’s been too long without one. I’m happy to report, everyone can look forward to our regular in-flight service returning very soon. That being said, I’m taking bets to see how long it takes for one of us to reminisce about the good old days when we just handed everyone a snack bag and moseyed to the back of the plane. Thankfully, our planes are continuing to fill up with passengers, too. After a year of losing millions of dollars each month, this month we may actually break even. Whew!!! And double Whew!! to this news. We still have middle seats blocked until April 30th, though. I won’t be surprised to see this policy discontinue after the 30th. So…middle-seat passengers…. Get ready to fight for your armrests again!

My next trip I will be the Skytress In-Charge. Whew! I haven’t flown in this role since COVID came into our lives. I have a whole new set of COVID PA’s to make as the Skytress In-Charge. So, I will definitely be reviewing them before my trip. I have a 30 hour layover in Birmingham. I don’t plan on doing anything with my crew. I know some crews have been hanging out together on their layovers for months. I also know this is how many have contracted COVID. I don’t want to mess things up before I get my second vaccination. I am so close. Last time I layed over in Birmingham they had removed the hair dryer and all the drinking glasses from the hotel room. According to the sign in the room, I wasn’t supposed to have an iron or ironing board either. Thankfully a fellow Skytress or Skyter hoarded these items for me. I’ll be curious to see if I have all these previously removed items in my room this time. Just in case, though, I’m bringing a plastic glass with me. Whew! I’ll be glad when the only extra thing I have to throw in my suitcase are cute layover clothes. I’ll be more glad to take the face masks out of my crew bags. I won’t throw them away though. Whew! I’d never do that. I’m a Skytress. Of course, I’ll put the face masks next to my hoarded paper products in my basement.

Whew! Yes. It has been quite a year for all of us! Like everyone I am very excited to see things returning back to normal. I pray everyone who wants to get a vaccination gets one. Needless to say, I look forward to hanging out with friends and family again. I’m also looking forward to hugging people outside my bubble again. You may not know this, but, Skytresses and Skyters are world class huggers. I’m definitely looking forward to going places without having to wear a face mask. I know I will have to go back to wearing makeup more regularly. I’m okay with this. Heck, I can’t count the number of people who have been deprived of my beautiful smile for months now. It’s a travesty, I know! I am absolutely looking forward to my company making a profit again. Oh, I look forward to all businesses making a profit again. The more the merrier! Mostly, though, I look forward to only being a hoarding Skytress on the airplane. Whew! After a year of hoarding off the airplane…That will be a VERY welcomed change.

Cead Mile Failte…..A Hundred Thousand Welcomes. Yes, welcome to my favorite holiday….St. Patrick’s Day! What can I say? This holiday just makes my Irish eyes smile. And what’s not to like about St. Patrick’s Day? There is corn beef, Irish soda bread, shamrock plants, gold coins and leprechauns. Okay, there is the awful boiled cabbage. But, lucky for me, I don’t cook it or eat it. No, I don’t put up with that shenanigans. If you are officially Irish, you don’t have to. It’s written in The Book of Kells …on page 223. That’s not a bunch of malarkey, either. No,…it’s a bunch of Latin!

Lucky for me, I am Irish on both sides of my family. As some of you may know, my Irish father and my Irish mother met in an Irish bar on St. Patrick’s Day in New York City. The rest, as they say, is Irish history. They got married and presto magic-o they had three lassies and two laddies. Talk about being lucky parents! Of course, my Dad made us drink his Magical Leprechaun Drink every St. Patrick’s Day to ensure we had the luck of the Irish all year long. The Irish can be a wee bit superstitious. Thankfully, the Magical Leprechaun Drink is magically delicious.

Astonishingly, I was the only kid in my school that wore a leprechaun corsage on St. Patrick’s Day. It was a small leprechaun doll that my Dad had the florist surround with green carnations. My Dad was a very clever Irish fellow. Somehow he saw the leprechaun and thought corsage. It did take a big hat pin to keep the corsage on my outfit. But, no one else had anything like it on St. Patrick’s Day. It made my Irish heart smile. Okay, my Mom and sisters also had leprechaun corsages. Obviously, I wore mine best. Thus, my Irish heart smiled a wee bit more than theirs.

My Dad was notorious for hanging our Irish flag outside whenever there was a special occasion. I’m sure he confused many people by flying the flag of Ireland on random days of the year. They, however, we not random to us. No, the flag meant there was someone special coming to visit, there was a birth, there was a wedding, or there was a party about to take place. Oh, how I treasure this flag. It reminds me of so many wonderful times growing up. Mostly, though, it reminds me of my Dad. You can bet, if our house was on fire and I could only take one personal item, I’d surely grab our Irish flag.

My Mom has another Irish tradition. She calls my sisters and me “Mary” followed by our birth name. There is Mary Maureen. Mary Patricia and Mary Eileen. When my brother Sean was being a pill, she would call him Mary Elizabeth. Thankfully, my Mom didn’t follow the Irish tradition to a Tee. Many Irish families actually name all their daughters Mary. Then they use their middle name for their primary name. I know. It’s weird and confusing. Thankfully, my Mom didn’t do this to us girls. We have Irish first names and Irish middle names. There isn’t one Mary in the family. Well, besides my Mom, Mary Ann. Funny, she doesn’t go by Ann, either. No, she is actually Mary Ann. We, however, just call her Mom. I know. It’s weird and confusing. My Dad’s only request when the grandchildren were born was that they have Irish names. Oh,…and that they go to Norte Dame. Well, at least they all have Irish names! We even give our dogs Irish names. We wouldn’t want anyone to think they aren’t part of our crazy Irish family. I know. We Irish can be weird and confusing. It’s what makes us so endearing.

Talk about being a wee bit crazy. Leave it to the Irish to figure out how to make corn beef. Yes. Throw some meat in a pot of boiling water with spices and cook it. That’s it. You don’t even have to watch the pot. I’m not sure if that is actually more genius than crazy. All I know is that it is delicious. Amazingly, I could eat corn beef every day. I do have a few Irish friends that are not fans of corn beef. Scandalous, I know. Thank goodness they are lovable Irish people and we overlook this disturbing fact. Even though cooking corn beef is easy, I sure feel pressure to make it taste delicious when I serve it to non-Irish. Unlike Italians, Germans and basically the rest of the world, the Irish are not known for their Irish recipes. But, if you are Irish you better not mess up the St. Patrick’s Day meal. After all, it’s only one meal the world expects us to know how to cook. Once I got an Irish cookbook to make some Irish cuisine. It was basically a notebook and not a cookbook. I did make some Irish soda bread from the cookbook. Sadly, it turned out harder than the Blarney Stone. My Dad tried to put a lot of butter and jam on it to soften it up. But, it really was inedible. I now buy an Irish soda bread mix that I doctor up a wee bit. I like a sweet Irish soda bread. So, I sprinkle sugar on the top. It still doesn’t taste like my friend Maureen Kelly’s soda bread. Her’s is the best I’ve ever eaten. But, at least now mine is edible without being slathered in Irish butter and jam. Oh, we still put butter and jam on it. Just not to soften it up. After all, we are Irish for goodness sakes.

Thankfully, Ron loved my corn beef and soda bread. He even loved my potatoes and carrots. He didn’t mind that I didn’t cook any cabbage on St. Patrick’s Day. Even though Ron was Swedish, I’m positive he knew about the exemption on page 223 in The Book of Kells. One St. Patrick’s Day Ron and I toasted the day with a wee bit of Irish cheer. I reminded Ron that “Slainte” is Gaelic for “Cheers”. So, we raised our glasses and said, Slainte. I paused briefly before I took my sip to see if Ron liked the Irish whiskey I had poured him. Ron drank his whiskey like he was drinking a glass of water. I stood there wide-eyed and speechless. I was stunned he was basically gulping down the whiskey. Then his face contorted. He coughed and clutched his chest. I could tell the whiskey was burning inside him. I finally found my words and asked him if he was okay. He looked at me and started to laugh. He explained he didn’t think I had poured him whiskey. Silly me. I never told him what was in the glass. I was too busy reminding him about Slainte. He thought I had given him a much sweeter liquor to drink. Sweeter was more my style. We laughed about this St. Patrick’s Day miscommunication all the time. Especially when we would toast each other and say Slainte. Usually, though, we were just drinking club soda and lime. We loved club soda and lime. It wasn’t a fancy drink. But, somewhere along the way it became our drink. Yep. It was our version of the Magical Leprechaun Drink.

I hope you all have your special Magical Leprechaun Drink on St. Patrick’s Day. I hope you have your fill of corn beef and edible Irish soda bread, too. Remember, if someone offers you that awful… awful… awful…boiled cabbage, refer them to page 223 in The Book of Kells. And when you see an Irish flag on Wednesday, I hope you think of my Dad in Heaven. I know I will. I know he and Ron will be watching over me on my favorite holiday. Of course, I will raise a glass of my Dad’s Magical Leprechaun Drink and a glass of Ron and my Magical Leprechaun Drink to them in Heaven. I know my Irish eyes will definitely be smiling as I toast them and say Slainte. Slainte to you,too, my dear friends. Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

Last week I deleted a story from my “Ice Ice Baby” blog post. It was more about melting snow than ice anyway. But the story got me thinking about something I hadn’t thought about in years. The Country Store in the Cincinnati Airport. The Country Store was located on A Concourse by the Credit Union. A very convenient location if you ask me. There was, also, a store located on the B Concourse near the small crew lounge. Another very convenient location if you ask me. The Country Store had other locations in other airports, such as, Columbus, Ohio and South Bend, Indiana. The employees even dressed in 1930’s country store attire. It was a full country store experience. Sadly, The Country Store is no longer located in these airports. I guess we airline crews didn’t eat enough of The Country Store’s glorious popcorn to keep them in business. Believe me, we definitely tried.

The Country Store was known for it’s delectable freshly-popped popcorn. It was also known for selling an incredibly ginormous bag of popcorn. Yes, some people actually bought the paper lunch-bag size of popcorn every now and then. But, they were usually the exception. I affectionately called them “the samplers”. The rest of the world bought the 24 ounce clear bag of popcorn. As you know, popcorn doesn’t weigh much….so that was A LOT of popcorn! The people that bought the 24 ounce bag were serious connoisseurs of The Country Store popcorn. When I was based in Cincinnati I would bring the big bag of popcorn home to my family in St. Louis. My family fell in love with the popcorn when I was a child. No trip to the airport would be complete without purchasing a big bag of popcorn. I’ll admit, it was cumbersome to carry the popcorn home to St. Louis on the airplane. But, seeing my Dad’s face light up at the sight of the popcorn made it all worthwhile. Needless to say, I chuckled when I saw passengers walking through the airport with their big bag of The Country Store popcorn. I knew their family and friends would be thrilled when they walked through the door, too. The Country Store popcorn had this magical effect on people. I truly believe they sprinkled magic dust, instead of salt, on the kernels while it popped. Our pilots apparently believed in magic. They were notorious for buying the big bag of popcorn and sharing it with the crew. Fortunately, The Country Store kindly provided extra brown paper snack bags for the crew. This way everyone could have their own individual bag of popcorn from the big bag. I know from personal experience crews would shriek with delight whenever the pilots shared their popcorn. Well, at least I did!

The Country Store offered more than the luscious popcorn. It was The Country Store after all! The store sold an assortment of quirky little items. There were dish towels, bottle openers, wind-up chattering teeth, wax candles and a plethora of interesting tchotchkes. In addition, the store sold Mad Libs books, ball and Jacks games, wooden paddle ball games and wooden thumb puppets. Remember the Wooly Willy Original Magnetic Hair Toy? I do. I always played with it when I was in the store. What can I say. I am a child at heart. I loved using the red magic wand to drag the magnetic shavings to create hair, beards and eyebrows on the bald man. Of course, I was partial to The County Store’s wooden airplanes, too. This shouldn’t surprise you. After all….I am in aviation. I was, also, enamored with wooden train whistles. They truly sounded like a train “was a coming” when you blew into them. But, my favorite toy was the wooden spinning tops. I bought many of these to entertain my nieces. I, however, was just as entertained. Yes, The Country Store was a filled with creative toys for kids and kids at heart. Thank goodness I have the heart of a kid.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

What kid doesn’t love candy? Fortunately, The Country Store was well- stocked with an assortment of mouth watering candy. Each little wooden bin held a sweet delight. There were Mary Jane’s, Goetze’s Caramel Creams, Sugar Daddy’s, Candy Button Dots, Candy Necklaces, Lemon Heads, Butter Scotch Candy’s, Jawbreakers, Salt Rock Candy, Rainbow Whirly Lollipops, and a wide variety of flavored stick candy…just to name a few. I could definitely name more. After all, I have the heart of a child that adores candy! Our pilots, also, have the hearts of candy loving children. Our pilots loved buying the Atomic Fireballs. They bought them by the paper sack full. They were always quick to offer the crew these hard candies, too. Everyone made it a personal challenge to suck on the fireballs long enough for the fire to go out. The pilots didn’t take offense when someone spit the candy out long before this point though. They usually laughed when someone gave up on the challenge. Most of us swore to never eat an Atomic Fireball ever again. However, everyone knew the next time an Atomic Fireball was offered again, everyone would accept the challenge once more. We couldn’t help ourselves. Hey, did I mention we have hearts of candy loving children?

• 

• 

• 

• 

The candy most people overlooked were the Necco Wafers. Both the assorted colored Necco Wafers and the chocolate Necco Wafers. I didn’t overlook this candy, though. My boyfriend at the time, Captain Pilot didn’t either. We actually became slightly obsessed with the Necco wafers. Especially, the chocolate Neccos. I bought the colored Necco Wafers one day on a lark. Captain Pilot and I scrutinized each color and flavor. We had our own personal favorites. Then one day Captain Pilot went to buy more Neccos at The Country Store. That day they only had the chocolate flavored Neccos. So, he bought them. And our world changed forever! We couldn’t get enough of them. Every chance we had we ran to The Country Store to buy more. At one point The Country Store completely ran out of the chocolate flavored Neccos. On both concourses! It was devastating for us. At some point in our obsession someone at The Country Store decided to put the Neccos in a basket near the register. Yes, the employees were making it convenient for us to run in and out of the store in between flights to make a quick chocolate Necco purchase. Sadly, it also made it more convenient for us to see the empty basket, as well. Captain Pilot and I would have daily updates on the chocolate Neccos situation. We became brazen in our pursuit of the candy. We no longer did a quick walk-by. No, we purposefully walked into the store to actually inquire about the chocolate Necco supply status. I had to laugh the day I went into The Country Store on the B Concourse. I informed the sales clerk I would love to purchase some chocolate Neccos. But, I could see they were still not in stock. The salesman was shocked another person had come in to the store to specifically purchase the chocolate Neccos. He told me a pilot had just come in a few minutes prior looking for the candy. I confidently told the sales clerk I knew it was my boyfriend. Come on, what were the chances it was someone else addicted to the candy? Of course, later that night Captain Pilot confirmed that he was indeed the chocolate Necco inquiring pilot. We laughed that maybe our Necco addiction was getting out of hand.

The story I was going to write about last week ultimately was more about the chocolate Necco Wafers. And not so much about the weather. Let me explain. I was flying with Captain Pilot one day to South Bend, Indiana. We laughed when we saw we were going to be on the same crew. Yes. We never purposely tried to fly together. It just worked out this way for us every now and then. This particular day big, wet snowflakes started to fall unexpectedly from the sky. It was as if we were in a snow globe and someone had shook it vigorously. Captain Pilot went to inquire about getting de-iced. The unexpected snow caught everyone in Cincinnati off guard. The de-icing crews scrambled to get the trucks in place to de-ice all the departing airplanes. Captain Pilot informed us our flight had been issued a flight delay until we could get de-iced. Unfazed, Captain Pilot told me he was going to head to The Country Store to look for some chocolate Necco Wafers. Minutes later Captain Pilot was back on the airplane to inform me The Country Store was still out of the chocolate Necco Wafers. Captain Pilot may not have brought any Necco Wafers back with him. However, he did bring the blazing sun back with him. The weather outside was now in complete contrast to the earlier snowy conditions. Outside my window sheets of snow were sliding off the airplane wings. Chunks of snow from the airplane roof were sliding past my window. I watched in amazement as the airplane parked next to us shed it’s heavy snow, too. Captain Pilot observed the same thing out the windows as we talked. After a short time had passed, Captain Pilot told me he was going to go outside to check the airplane. From inside the airplane I could see the wings were now completely clear of snow. Captain Pilot came back a few minutes later and informed us we no longer needed to be de-iced. Mother Nature had de-iced us. So, we received our new paperwork, got our passengers boarded and we flew off to South Bend.

When we parked at the gate in South Bend, Captain Pilot deplaned to get our new paperwork and to look around the concourse. A few minutes later he entered the plane holding a brown paper bag. He smiled a sheepish smile and handed it to me. The bag was filled with chocolate Necco Wafers! Neither one of us knew the South Bend airport had The Country Store. Happily, the South Bend passengers were not obsessed with chocolate Necco Wafers like we were. Hip Hip Hooray!We had a new chocolate Necco supply station.

Not long after the South Bend discovery, we were in a drugstore in Dayton. Captain Pilot needed to pick some items up on the way to the house. We conveniently walked down the candy aisle to get to the back of the store. Just by chance I looked down. There I spied not only the colored Necco Wafers, but, I spied the chocolate Necco Wafers, too. I also saw the price of the candy. For the price of one roll of candy at The Country Store, we could get four rolls of candy at the drugstore. We were gobsmacked! The unproductive airport hunt for Necco Wafers at The Country Store was now over. We realized could easily buy our candy at the drugstore for a fraction of the price. Captain Pilot and I no longer bought our Neccos at The Country Store. Ironically, The Country Stores at the airport in Cincinnati closed not long after our drugstore discovery. Now, I cannot confirm our lack of buying the Necco Wafers caused the demise of The Country Store. But, wouldn’t you agree ….it is a peculiar coincidence.

I still buy Necco Wafers every once in awhile. I like to keep some in candy jars in the basement in case someone needs extra energy to play air hockey or pool. Yes, Necco Wafers are readily available to everyone in my house. Sadly, The Country Store popcorn is not. Oh, if I could have jars in my basement filled with The Country Store popcorn,…I’d be in popcorn Heaven. I truly believe if The Country Store were to reappear in airports they would thrive. They would thrive with a new generation of Skytreses, Skyters and pilots that had never tasted the most delectable popcorn ever popped. And quite possibly, another Skytress and her Captain Pilot boyfriend would discover the chocolate Necco Wafers. And just like Captain Pilot and me, they might become obsessed with obtaining them and eating them. Well, they will be obsessed until they discover them at their local drugstore. Then they will sadly discover they, too, have been chocolate Necco price gouged at The Country Store. Oh well, if they are smart, they will always go back for the popcorn.

I had Robert Van Winkle on my flight again the other day. You know, raper Vanilla Ice….. Ice Ice Baby. I have Vanilla Ice on my flight a lot. He lives in West Palm Beach. I happen to work a lot of West Palm Beach flights. I never ask Vanilla Ice about his raping days. Nor, do I ask him about his tv show, “The Vanilla Ice Project”, on the DIY Network. He doesn’t ask me about, “The Rerouted Skytress”, blog either. No, we simply go about our business on the flight. Unfortunately for me, though, the next three weeks I have the song “Ice Ice Baby” swirling around my head. Vanilla Ice is very popular amongst the flight crews. You see, ice is an integral part of our lives. A good bag of ice is golden when you are a Skytress or Skyter. The most knowledgeable Skytresses and Skyters know the best ice in the airline system comes from Little Rock. Yes, by golly. Good Ice Ice Baby! is very serious to us! Oh my, I cannot count the number of times a crew member has broken out in Vanilla Ice’s “Ice Ice Baby” when inquiring about the ice onboard the aircraft. But when you have Robert Van Winkle on your flight, you sing “Ice Ice Baby” ad nauseam. If you are quirky like me your mind starts to wonder as you sing the song. Incredibly, the last time I had Robert Van Winkle on my flight, my mind wandered to the times I had ice ice …baby… on the outside of the aircraft. As Ron jokingly used to say about himself, “I’m referred to as weird at times.” Well, the same can be said about me, too. I guess that’s why we got along so well! Yep, Ice Ice Baby!

Years ago, if a flight went to Syracuse, it also went to Rochester. Or vice versa. It was just a given. This is how our routing system was back in the day. We would group the Syracuse and Rochester passengers together on one airplane. Then we would drop them off like a school bus dropping off students at their homes…one stop at a time. One day there was some weather in the upstate New York area. We were originally scheduled to fly to Rochester first. Then we would fly to Syracuse. Because of the inclement weather in upstate New York, our weight and balance was not ideal for landing on Rochester’s shorter runway. Yes, the weather, the length of the runway and the passenger load was playing havoc with our flight schedule. Eventually, someone much smarter than me figured out how to rectify our situation. It was finally determined if we flew to Syracuse first and let the Syracuse passengers deplane, our weight and balance would be perfect for the conditions in Rochester. Since we had to fly to both cities anyway, no one really cared where we landed first. Everyone was actually more impressed someone had figured out this plan. We all agreed it was much better than cancelling the flights. So, we flew to Syracuse…..Then we flew to Rochester. Amazingly, everything was going according to the new plan. We landed in Rochester and taxied to the gate. Because it was before 9-11, we taxied to the gate with the cockpit door opened. Even though I was sitting in the back of the airplane, I could see the gate lights as we turned into the gate area. Remarkably, I could even see the concourse windows through the cockpit window from my aft jumpseat. I was eagerly anticipating the Captain setting the parking breaks and turning off the seatbelt sign. Then all of a sudden, the airplane made a uncharacteristic wiggle. My first reaction was, “Holy crap! What was that?” No one moved. The passengers were very quiet. Seconds later, the Captain turned the seatbelt sign off. The Skytress that was sitting next to me on the jumpseat said, “That was the weirdest sensation.” Then we broke out in nervous giggles as we went to disarm our doors. We followed the last of the passengers up the aisle. The Captain anticipated our questions. Before we could speak, he informed us we had slid on a patch of ice as we were pulling into the gate. Yep, Ice Ice Baby! I was amazed how easily a heavy aircraft could slide on ice. I told the Captain for a brief moment I wasn’t sure the airplane was going to come to a complete stop. I had visions of us crashing into the concourse windows. The Captain said the tug operator was probably thinking the same thing. The tug operator had been standing on the tug marshaling the aircraft forward with his orange-lighted hand wands. When the airplane started to skid the tug operator jumped off the tug and ran. Yikes, Ice Ice Baby! The Captain said when the plane started to skid he feared the breaks wouldn’t hold. He feared the plane would crash into the tug, or worse. The Captain said the exact thought must have been going through the tug operators mind, too. Fortunately, the airplane didn’t hit the tug and the tug operator was unharmed. Relieved, we all started to laugh at the oddness of the event. The Captain laughed the hardest. He was truly relieved everything turned out okay. He chuckled and said he would forever remember the shocked look on the tug operator’s face as the plane skidded towards him. He said if the tug operator had a lifetime of reoccurring nightmares about an airplane running over him, he would completely understand. Ice Ice Baby!

Icy weather got the best of us one Christmas Eve in Shreveport. We knew it was going to be a long day when the gal at the front desk wondered why we were heading to the airport. All the other crews staying at the hotel had their flights cancelled because of the icy conditions. I was a little perturbed no one had called us. Obviously, we had gotten dressed for no reason. My frustration quickly subsided, though. I was now becoming giddy with the thought of crawling back into bed. As expected, the Captain took control of the situation. He immediately called scheduling. Unfortunately, scheduling hadn’t canceled our flight. No, the company wanted to try to get at least one flight out of Shreveport. Sadly, no one was going back to bed. Instead, we reluctantly climbed into the hotel shuttle. And off to the airport we went. Ice Ice Baby, all the way there.

When we arrived at the airport the gatehouse was filled with passengers from our flight and the other cancelled flights. Apparently, just like scheduling, the passengers were hoping one flight would depart Shreveport that day. Unfortunately, a Christmas miracle would be needed for this to happen. The gate agent accompanied us down the jetway and explained the dilemma we were facing with the weather. Their de-icing equipment was not working. The company had been informed days prior to this situation. However, since Shreveport rarely needs de-icing equipment, it was not deemed a priority fix. I knew immediately that we were in a pickle. Yes. Ice Ice Baby…We were at a standstill. The only hope was for the weather to warm up enough for the ice to melt. So, we stowed our bags on the airplane and we sat down in first class and waited……And waited. Did I mention we waited? The sun refused to come out and the temperature wouldn’t budge. The Captain was becoming agitated with the situation. He inquired about towing the airplane to the aircraft hanger located on the other side of the airport. He surmised a warm hanger would melt the ice. The gate agent explained to the Captain the hanger was a military hanger. We didn’t have the security clearance to use it. Thus, his plan would not be feasible for our situation. Unfortunately, we would have to stay on course with our original plan and wait for the ice to melt. Oh,no! Ice Ice Baby! At this point my fellow Skytresses and I walked up into the gatehouse with drinks and snack from the airplane to serve the waiting Shreveport passengers. The passengers were extremely kind and understanding of the situation. We knew they had Christmas plans. Sadly, their plans were unraveling as the time slowly dragged on. I felt awful there wasn’t anything we could do to rectify the situation. Unfortunately, the Shreveport passengers were hoping for a Christmas miracle that Santa was not willing to deliver. Ugh, Ice Ice Baby.

When I went back inside our airplane I could hear voices coming from our pilot’s cockpit radio. TWA pilots were talking with the Shreveport air traffic controllers. They were in a similar situation with the ice. However, unlike us, they did have de-icing equipment. Unfortunately, they didn’t have the proper type of de-icing fluid for the situation. The TWA pilots asked the air traffic controllers if it was possible to get de-iced at the end of the runway. The type of de-icing fluid they had would require them to be airborne in less than 30 minutes from the time the fluid was first applied to the aircraft. The gentleman in the tower told the TWA pilots their aircraft was the only one that day in a position to take off. So, they approved the plan. In less than 30 minutes TWA was airborne. And we waited. Our Captain was growing frustrated. He wanted to be home for Christmas morning to celebrate with his children. Heck, we all wanted to be home on Christmas. Darn you, Ice Ice Baby!

Hours later our flight was cancelled and we headed back to the hotel. The gal at the front desk was not surprised to see us. She had placed our room keys to the side for our anticipated return. She informed us the hotel restaurant was now open and she was going to comp our meals. Thank you, Ice Ice Baby! In true Skytress form, we ladies changed our clothes and were sitting in the restaurant in a matter of minutes. A pilot from one of the earlier cancelled flights was eating in the restaurant when we arrived. He came over to speak with us. We told him about our eventful, or should I say, uneventful, morning at the airport. He then explained he and the pilots from the other cancelled flights were going to host an impromptu Christmas party later that afternoon. He graciously invited us and our pilots to their Christmas party. We knew our sweet first officer had his fill of the Captain that day. We wanted him to experience some Christmas cheer. So, we called Ray and told him about the party. We told him we weren’t going to invite our grumpy Captain, though. We were thrilled when Ray joined us at the Christmas party. It was at the party we learned about the pilots slip-sliding icy adventure to the grocery store. Yep, Ice Ice Baby! The pilots said they were determined to make it to the store and back to the hotel with some Christmas goodies. They deemed it “The Christmas Challenge”. Luckily for the rest of us, they bought a marvelous assortment of food and Christmas items. The Skytresses from my crew and the other crews were definitely impressed. Needless to say, we all had a festive time hanging out with our airline family members. The next day no one on our crew mentioned the Christmas party to the Captain. It was our Christmas secret. Alas, Ice Ice Baby!..it’s not a secret anymore.

My Dad always said my youngest niece, Megan, was put on Earth to entertain us. On Sunday, February 28th, Megan will celebrate her 21st birthday. For those following along, that means Megan has been our free entertainment for 21 years. Well, I shouldn’t say it’s been free entertainment. We do give her gifts on her birthday, Christmas and on many occasions when we can’t help ourselves. And if Linzer cookies are considered an acceptable form of payment…..well then, I’ve made quite a few deposits into Megan’s entertainment fund. Thankfully for me, Megan loves Linzer cookies! Mostly, though, we are Megan’s best…cheap audience. We do double over in laughter more times than not. That has to count for something, right?

When Megan was a wee little one I used to ask her what her name was. She would animatedly proclaim her name was, “Sassy”. It cracked me up. If she would have said, “Spitfire”, I would have completely agreed with this moniker, too. Miss Sassy loved watching Scooby Doo cartoons when she was little. She would methodically place her chair directly in front of the TV and climb up into it with her much-loved Eeyore in tow. Megan would become so transfixed on the cartoon she would ignore everyone and everything around her. Then, as if she couldn’t quite believe she was actually watching the cartoon, she would turn to whoever was in the room with her and exclaim, “Scobby Doo!” Just as quickly as she proclaimed this, she would turn back to the TV and go back into her Scooby Doo trance. Every once in awhile she would shout out she needed some “Oat-Me-Meal”. I never corrected her on her pronunciation of oatmeal. When Miss Sassy said, “Oat-Me-Meal” my heart would melt from the utter cuteness. To this day, I will tell my crew I am going to have some “Oat-Me Meal”. Shockingly, my crew doesn’t look at me with complete adoration like I did with Miss Sassy. But, I always smile. I flashback to young Megan sitting in her chair with her beloved Eeyore. It’s all I can do to stop my Skytress self from squealing “Scooby Doo!”

Megan always had an innate ability to entertain us. One day when Megan was finally tall enough to reach the light switch, she took great delight in flipping the lights on and off. My Mom and I chuckled as we watched her. Finally, my Mom decided we were encouraging bad behavior. So she said, “Megan. No. No” Without skipping a beat, Megan shook her pointer finger at my Mom and said, “No. No”. With her other hand she continued to flip the lights on and off. My Mom and I started to laugh. Megan laughed, too. Yes. The best entertainers always know how to make their audience laugh. We make Megan laugh when we remind her she used to go behind the living room chair to go potty. Ah, potty training. Megan was not a fan of it when she was a toddler. Megan loved to run and hide behind my parent’s wing back chair in the living room to go potty. We always knew what Megan was doing when she would sneak off. Of course, we would call to Megan and ask if she needed to use the potty. She would refuse to answer. Then she would reappear as if nothing had happened in the living room. It was quite the performance. Not a believable performance. But, a performance nonetheless. Some of Megan’s best dramatization came when she was trying to convince someone into giving her ice cream. Megan would sweetly ask an unsuspecting adult if she could have some vanilla ice cream to eat. Vanilla was her favorite. When she would be denied she would plead her case. She would ultimately petition for just a glob of ice cream. A glob was a big scoop. Not a full cup of ice cream. Why it was barely eating ice cream in Megan’s world. Much to Megan’s chagrin, she rarely won the ice cream debate. It was quite entertaining for the rest of us to see her try, though. These days when we have ice cream, we ask Megan if she would like a glob. Funny enough….It’s become a favorite family expression.

My sister says Megan is just like me. I take this as a wonderful compliment. I think I am fabulous! My sister means Megan has inherited my love of cleaning and organizing. Yep, it’s still a compliment, as far as I am concerned. When Megan was a little girl, she used to put all her stuffed animals in the hallway before she went to bed. She wanted a clean room to go to sleep in. It was quite the nightly ritual. My sister finally told Megan she couldn’t do this. However, she did allow Megan to lay her clothes out to wear the next day. Megan would carefully place each piece of clothing on her bedroom floor. It resembled a body at a crime scene. A little police tape and no one would have questioned whether there had been a crime committed in Megan’s room. Lucky for me, Megan always wants organizational items for her Christmas and birthday gifts. Oh, this warms the cockles of my heart. I try not to the one that always buys her organizational items. But, it makes us both so happy. So I succumb….a lot. Many times when something needs to be cleaned or organized, Megan is called to tackle the job. After my Dad passed away I cleaned out his office file cabinets. Stacks of papers needed to be shredded. It was a daunting task. My Dad loved to make multiple copies of important papers. I didn’t mind going through the files to determine what needed to be shredded. I did discovered, though, I loathe shredding paper. Fortunately, Megan told me she would shred all the files. I still marvel at her persistence in shredding the enormous stacks of papers. I did pay Megan to shred the papers. I didn’t pay her in Linzer cookies, either. No. Real hard cash was exchanged. Two things I love about Megan….she is a hard worker….and she loves money. It’s true. Megan really IS just like me!

You may recall Megan’s sisters were into dance when they were younger. Megan tried dancing. But, she decided early on that dancing was not for her. Well, expect for Wii Nintendo dancing. Megan was exceptional at this type of dancing. Her enthusiasm even got me to bust a move or two. Thankfully, there is no footage of my two moves. Even though Megan excelled at dancing to “Iko Iko” and “Viva Las Vegas”, soccer was her true passion. The kicker….I couldn’t help it…is that Megan was… and I am quite positive… still is, a wonderful soccer player. Megan played soccer for an elite soccer team in St. Louis. She also played on her high school soccer team. She was a captain on the team. At one point Megan played so much soccer I would tease her that she played more than the professional players did. Megan reluctantly gave up soccer several years ago when she went to college. We knew it was a hard decision for her. However, she wanted to concentrate on her college studies. I’m proud to say, Megan also excels when it comes to her education.

Megan is extremely smart. Ah, something else we both have in common. Megan is following in her Mom’s footsteps by studying to become a physical therapist. Megan is a third-year student at St. Louis University. The physical therapy program is a six-year program. This summer Megan will have her gross anatomy classes. I can only imagine the dinner discussions at the Hamill house. I remember dinners at our house when my sister took gross anatomy. Let’s just say it was gross. I will relish the day I get to call Megan, “Dr. Megan”. However, she shouldn’t be surprised if we call her Dr. Meggie-Moo. She is after all, Meggie-Moo to her family. What happened to “Sassy” you ask? Sadly, “Sassy” was just a childhood phase Megan quickly grew out of.

Megan is very creative. This is definitely a common trait of the Hamill sisters. There isn’t a Hobby Lobby or Michael’s that is safe from the likes of Megan and her sisters. Much to my amusement, Megan and her sisters use store items as props for their impromptu videos. Talk about entertaining! Megan’s TikTok posts are just as entertaining. I am amazed with her synchronization and creativity. Megan may get frustrated when her sister Jamie gets over 20,000 views on a TikTok post. But, I gleefully cheer at Megan’s creativity and execution every time she posts something. I admit. I am a fabulous fan and audience.

Megan is not only entertaining. She is also an incredible young woman. She has always volunteered at church with her sisters. She is quick to help those in need. Whether it be a friend or a stranger. Megan was also the catalyst for throwing marvelous birthday parties for my brother up at the high school. Our family will forever be grateful for this. As you can easily tell, Megan embodies love. Megan is a beautiful blessing to us all. My Dad was correct when he said Megan was put on Earth to entertain us. I can only imagine the journey Megan will take in her lifetime. I do know it will be a joyful, happy journey. It couldn’t be anything else. For Megan is the entertainer. Lucky for us, we get to be her audience.

St. Patrick’s Day is my favorite holiday. But, if I have to be honest, Fat Tuesday is my favorite day for celebrating. Ah, yes, Mardi Gras you say. I’m definitely aware of the fact that millions of people love Mardi Gras. Heck, St. Louis has the second largest Mardi Gras celebration in the country. Shockingly, though, I’m not a big fan of Mardi Gras. I am, however, a huge fan of Fat Tuesday. You may be scratching your head thinking Mardi Gras and Fat Tuesday are the same thing. Nope. At least not in my book. Yes, Mardi Gras is French for Fat Tuesday. But, this is where the similarities end….at least, for me. Mardi Gras is filled with food, drinks, parades, colorful costumes, flying beads, and lively music. Fat Tuesday is just filled with food. Mardi Gras celebrants say, “Laissez les bond temps rouler”…”Let the good times roll.” Fat Tuesday celebrants say, “Let’s eat!” Okay, let’s!

My family usually starts Fat Tuesday off with Paczkis. Huh? Paczki are Polish doughnuts eaten on Fat Tuesday. My Irish family barely knows how to pronounce Gaelic words. We definitely botch the pronunciation of Paczki. So, we just call them, “the Fat Tuesday” doughnuts. I always buy the strawberry filled and the chocolate Bavarian cream filled Paczkis. Because it’s Fat Tuesday, we must have one of each. Why must we eat one of each? Well, this is our unwritten Fat Tuesday family rule. This rule dates back to the first time we had Paczkis. It was too hard to decide which type of doughnut we wanted to eat. Since it was Fat Tuesday, it was decided everyone should have one of each and not feel guilty about it. Isn’t this the most delightful family rule? There is a downside of eating two Paczkis, though. Once the sugar starts wearing off you definitely need to take a nap. Thankfully, one of my favorite things in life is taking a nap after breakfast. Following the mandatory Paczki nap, I find it necessary to have a wee bit more sugar to have ample energy to get back into the Fat Tuesday eating game. Fortunately, this year we have leftover Valentine’s Day treats. Sweet!

Lunch on Fat Tuesday usually isn’t too set in stone. I find it best to just eat all the junk food around the house. Need I remind you?….It IS Fat Tuesday. Don’t worry. Everyone will eat protein later. I decided long ago it’s best to finish the junk food lunch meal with a few grapes, a banana or pear. It tricks the mind into thinking you have eaten a healthy lunch. I should mention, lunch should not be a quick meal. I repeat….it should not be a quick meal. Fat Tuesday lasts for 24 hours. Thus, a leisurely lunch is only appropriate in the grand scheme of things.

Fat Tuesday dinner usually consists of Gumbo, Jambalaya, or shrimp étouffée. Yes, it’s my homage to Mardi Gras. See, I’m not a complete Mardi Gras heathen. And let’s face it….Creole food is delicious. I do suggest everyone refrain from eating shrimp étouffée with rabbit in it, though. Once on my New Orleans layover I got shrimp étouffée and it had rabbit in it. Unfortunately, I learned with my first bite that I’m not a fan of cooked rabbit. It ruined my étouffée. You can bet, next time I will read the menu more closely. My family can tell you, I love to go with pasta Jambalaya on Fat Tuesday. I take comfort in knowing everyone is eating a heaping dose of protein with the Jambalaya. The chicken, shrimp and andouille sausage are a welcome reprieve from all the sugary Fat Tuesday food. Jambalaya also has a healthy dose of vegetables…..celery, peppers, onion, tomatoes and garlic. If I make the Jambalaya correctly, though, no one will notice the vegetables. No, everyone’s lips will be tingling from the incredible creole spices. Now, I am well aware that Jambalaya is made with rice most of the time. But, I like to make mine with pasta on Fat Tuesday. I don’t want people to get confused and think I am celebrating Mardi Gras. No, my homage to Mardi Gras is just a wee bit of a homage. Again…I celebrate Fat Tuesday and not Mardi Gras. Thankfully, the pasta fills everyone’s belly until it is time for dessert. Hey, it’s Fat Tuesday. We HAVE to eat dessert!

Many people eat King Cake for dessert on Mardi Gras. Thankfully, I celebrate Fat Tuesday. In my humble opinion, the only good things about the King Cake are the icing and the purple, green and gold sugar toppings. The rest of the cake is too dry and tasteless for me. My Fat Tuesday dessert calls for something more special than King Cake. This year I have made the executive decision to make peach cobbler. If you remember from my past blog posts….peach cobbler is my favorite! Plus, I found a new cobbler recipe on Pinterest I’m dying to try. Peach cobbler topped with ice cream will definitely trump the King Cake on my Fat Tuesday.

If you think Fat Tuesday concludes with dessert, you would be sorely mistaken. Fat Tuesday lasts until 11:59pm. There is absolutely more time to eat after dessert. What do we eat? Well, we eat any leftover Paczki, of course. We definitely call it a day after we eat more Paczki, though. Remember, I take a nap after eating Paczkis for breakfast. The day was young then. Eating more Paczki after a day of eating everything on Fat Tuesday, will definitely require at least eight hours of sleep. Obviously, we have to eat the Paczkis before we go to bed. After all, we can’t eat them on Ash Wednesday. At least we can’t in our house. No. We have to fast on Ash Wednesday. Traditionally, the Fat Tuesday celebration ends with a big glass of water. Yes, we need to prep our bellies for all the water we will drink on Ash Wednesday. On Ash Wednesday we are supposed to only drink water until it’s time to eat dinner. If I am being a good Catholic girl I will serve fish for dinner on Ash Wednesday. It will be the first of many fish dinners during Lent. Thankfully, this past Saturday, my sister, brother and I noticed the Catholic Church closest to our house is going to have it’s annual Lenten Friday fish fry. We all were very excited to see the Friday Fish Fry sign. I can personally vouch, the best fish dinners during Lent come straight out of God’s house.

Fat Tuesday is undoubtedly a glorious day of feasting. Unlike Thanksgiving, though, Fat Tuesday is much less organized eating. Everyone can free-form eat on Fat Tuesday. How lucky is this? Very! It’s almost as lucky as St. Patrick’s Day…..again…my favorite holiday. Don’t worry. You will read all about my favorite holiday in a few weeks. Lucky for me and my fellow celebrants….Tomorrow is Fat Tuesday. Let’s eat! Okay, let’s!

My Mom’s two favorite quarterbacks played against each other yesterday in Super Bowl LV. Yes, my Mom is a Tom Brady fan. She realizes she is only one of a handful of Brady fans living outside the New England and Tampa Bay areas. But, she doesn’t mind. She still roots for him. Patrick Mahomes is definitely her favorite of the two quarterbacks. So, we were a unified Kansas City Chiefs family as we watched the Super Bowl. It was a very small party of four this year. My Mom, my brother Brian, my sister Patti and I had our own Covid-19 Super Bowl party. It was a far cry from the Super Bowl parties my family used to host. Nonetheless, I served enough Super Bowl food to satisfy a football stadium filled with Chief fans. We really didn’t miss all the other party goers, though. You know me, I love a good party theme!

You may remember my Dad loved a good party. Throw in the Super Bowl and my Dad was in all his glory. Our friends and neighbors loved a good Super Bowl party, too. Everyone was always excited to come to our house to cheer on their favorite team. My Dad and our family friend, Rick, would set up the Super Bowl betting chart. Amazingly, Rick won most of the betting money after each quarter. I believe Rick was in direct communication with the players on the field. But, I can’t prove anything and Rick won’t divulge any information. I remember the year Coke had their big 3-D commercial during the Super Bowl. Everyone sat in our family room with their 3-D glasses on. Strangely, watching everyone wearing their 3-D glasses to view the commercial was more entertaining than the commercial itself. The same group of family and friends were gathered around the TV for Janet Jackson’s wardrobe malfunction during the Super Bowl 38 halftime show. Coincidentally, Rick was the only person paying attention to the halftime show at the revealing moment. I swear Rick was in direct communication with Justin Timberlake on the field. I believe Rick was privy to what was about to happen. Again, I can’t prove anything…..and Rick most certainly has never….EXPOSED …..any information.

One year I was laying over in Chicago on Super Bowl Sunday. My friend Tara came to pick me up at our layover hotel and we went to our friend Kal’s house for a party. Tara’s husband was out of town. So the only person we knew at the party was Kal himself. Kal loves all sports….Cubs baseball, Michigan Wolverines football, racing yachts, just to name a few. Kal is, also, a vey down-to-earth person. Thus, many people aren’t aware that Kal is quite the intellectual. Tara and I are definitely down-to-earth and intelligent women. However, the group of friends Kal had invited to his party were down-to-earth uber intellectuals. They could talk circles around me on a plethora of subjects. Football, however, was not a subject they knew much about. Tara and I giggled under our breaths as we listened to Kal’s friends trying to figure out the complexities of the game. It was, without a doubt, the most unusual Super Bowl party I ever attended. In spite of this, I throughly enjoyed myself. I can’t remember who won the game…or even what teams played in the Super Bowl that year. I do remember I made Paula Deen’s lemon blossoms and brought them to the party. As you know, I adore Super Bowl food. The lemon glazed mini-muffins weren’t actually Super Bowl style food. But, since Kal’s friends weren’t actually football fans, I guess it was an appropriate Super Bowl dessert. Plus, they were yummy tum-tum delicious.

When I lived in Atlanta my St. Louis Rams came to town to play in the Super Bowl. Lucky for me, my friend Shannon had a Super Bowl party. I was beyond excited to watch my Rams play the Tennessee Titans. Thankfully for me, my friends were also rooting for the Rams. We faithfully watched each play. We cheered whenever the Rams completed a pass or made a timely tackle. We celebrated each time they scored. It was thrilling. My Rams looked like they were going to easily win the game. But, no!!! The Titans fought hard in the fourth quarter and tied the game with two minutes left. I was extremely nervous for my Rams. Then without a warming Shannon’s cable went out. We were stunned. No one moved. We waited for the TV to pop back on. Nope. It didn’t happen. There was a little freezing rain in Atlanta that day. Yes. Hot Atlanta was anything but hot. There wasn’t enough time for me to drive home to catch the end of the game. I was beside myself. It’s not every day your team plays in the Super Bowl. I called my parents to get an update on the game. They couldn’t believe we were missing it. My family tried to relay what was happening on the field. Their play-by-play was awful because the game was too exciting. All I could hear was their exuberant cheering and passionate screaming. It was futile to even try to explain to my friends what was happening in the game. Shannon eventually thought to turned the radio on in the kitchen. We all stood around the radio and listened to the game. The radio announcers we ecstatic. The Rams quarterback, Kurt Warner, threw a 73- yard touchdown pass to regain the lead. The Titans refused to quit. They drove the ball to the Rams 10-yard line with six seconds left in the game. Miraculously, the Rams stopped the Titans on the one-yard line and the game was over. It took a few seconds for Shannon and I too comprehend what had happened. Holy Moly…..The Rams won the Super Bowl! Shannon and I were elated! It was ABSOLUTELY the best Super Bowl I never actually watched.

I distinctly remember the last Super Bowl I caught on a layover. I flew with Ron and his friend Tim. Ron and Tim were junior to me in in-flight. The boys knew perfectly well they would have to fly Super Bowl Sunday. So, they looked for a trip that would get them to a layover in time to catch the game. Remarkably, another position on their trip opened up. Ron asked me if I would like to fly with them. I thought it would be a blast. So, I quickly swapped on to the trip. I was the only Skytress among three Skyters. Our Skyter In-Charge also swapped on to the trip. His original trip he was to fly with a Skytress named Ting Ting. Incredulously, he didn’t feel he could call a grown woman Ting Ting for three days. Ron, Tim and I couldn’t understand this rationale since Ting Ting really was her name. Therefore, without skipping a beat, I jokingly started calling him Ting Ting. Ron and Tim followed my lead. We casually mentioned to our pilots our Skyter In-Charge name was Ting Ting. You cannot imagine our glee when our Captain came back into the cabin to brief our Skyter In-Charge before the passengers boarded. The Captain turned to our Skyter In-Charge and innocently asked, “Ting Ting are you ready to brief?” The three of us doubled over laughing.

Ron, Tim, Ting Ting and I decided we would go to a bar to watch the Super Bowl game. The first establishment we went to was overflowing with people. We decided we would mosey on to the next place. We discovered a New Orlean themed restaurant-bar a few blocks away. We knew people in New Orleans like to party. Thus, we determined this place would be an ideal spot to catch the football game. The restaurant had an additional bar area set up in the back for watching the Super Bowl. There weren’t too many people sitting in this back section. Apparently, people in San Antonio don’t hang out in New Orleans themed restaurants. This was okay for us. We wanted to catch the game and still be able to talk with each other. Ron, Ting Ting and I were rooting for the Seattle Seahawks. Tim was rooting for whatever team was going to win him money at the end of each quarter. Tim was making out like a bandit. He was very pleased. Ron, Ting Ting and I were happy because it looked like the Seahawks were going to beat the Patriots with a game ending touchdown. But, no. It didn’t happen. Seattle lost the game in the final seconds. Yes, the Seahawks were about to score with 26 seconds left in the game. They were on the 1-yard line when Russell Wilson threw the football and it was intercepted by the Patriots. The game was over. Ting Ting was devastated. The majority of the people in the restaurant were pulling for the Seahawks. Disappointment hung in the air. Ron and I took it all in stride. Thankfully, neither team was really our favorite. We simply liked the Seahawks a wee bit more than the Patriots. I remember it was a strikingly cold evening as we walked back to the hotel. Tim had a lot of energy. He walked enthusiastically ahead of us. I’m sure his quick pace was fueled by his multiple betting wins. Ting Ting was upset and walked back to the hotel in utter frustration. Ron and I followed behind laughing at Tim and Ting Ting scurrying back to the hotel. The next day Ting Ting was still upset about the ending to the game. He would get furious at the mention of the interception. Ron and I laughed about it for days. For months afterwards, Ron would bring up Ting Ting’s name and wonder if he was still upset about the Seahawks losing the Super Bowl.

This year I wondered which team Ting Ting was rooting for…..my Chiefs or Tom Brady’s Buccaneers. Well, My Chiefs lost the Super Bowl. I was sad for them. Although my Mom was rooting for the Chiefs, her second favorite quarterback won. I guess Mom really couldn’t lose this year. This Super Bowl the commercials were better than I expected. I was pleasantly surprised. The halftime show was a wee bit different. But, hey, I usually feel this way after watching it. Will I remember the score in a week or two? Probably not. I probably won’t even remember what teams played in the game six months from now. I will remember the food I served, though. I don’t want to serve the same thing next year when I watch the Super Bowl. That would be an ugly loss in my book.

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.