Hurtling through Time & Space

Greetings from 36,014 feet above the North Atlantic. We're about 2 hours and 6minutes from landing in Paris. We've traveled 3159 miles so far and have about 566left to go. So now you know the end of the story: yes, we got on our flight. But that's hardly the whole story.

The day began at 2 a.m., an early hour by anyone's reckoning. After getting ourselves up and getting all the last minute things done, Super Shuttle showed up on time at 3:30 to pick Allen & me up. We got to the airport just fine and checked our luggage.

As if flying standby wasn't enough excitement, I decided to add to the thrill of it all by playing a game of hide & seek with my passport case. I had used the resstroom and was then talking with my brother on the phone when I rallied that I wasn't holding my passport case anymore which not only contained my passport but also all the papers I needed for the trip.

I ran back to the restroom and checked all the stalls but no passport case. Panic by this time is rearing its ugly head. The are two airline employees who are outside the restroom who are sympathetic but really can't help. They do point me to the courtesy phone where I call the police. The very nice women on the other end of the line says she'll get a policeman to me soon. So I wait, shaking and practically in tears. As I'm waiting, another airline employee exits the restroom holding, yes!, my passport case. I identify myself and he reunites us. It takes me until we're over Utah to stop shaking.

And, yes, we do get on our flight. We have three middle seats but that's bearable if it will get us closer to our goal. So we arrive in Chicago about noon ready to wait the six hours until the flight to Paris. We have a fairly nice lunch at O'Hare and then begin our vigil at our gate. Allen and I pass the time with an Indiana Jones movie on my iPad. Marilyn had begun the day saying that it wasn't likely that we'd get on the plane. When you use companion passes to fly standby you can access a website that lists a flight as green, amber, or red. Green means that there are plenty of seats available. Amber means that it's getting crowded and red means it's not likely that you'll get on. When Marilyn first met us in the morning she brought with her the news that the flight had turned red that morning. Oh great!

We waited anyways because what else is there to do, really? As they start the boarding process, they still haven't called our names. But then suddenly we hear, "Foster, party of three." Yes! That's the sign that they've got room for us. We eagerly approach the desk assuming that they'll give us three middle seats again. But my boarding pass indicates that I'm on the aisle. And we're all in the same row. And, as it turns out,we have three seats together! Another yes!

So here we are, high above the earth, bidding our time until we touch down. According to the map on the little tv screen in front of me, we're just about over Ireland now, so we are indeed getting close. More to come later. Adieu!