I’m sitting in Chicago O’Hare airport, awaiting boarding for a flight I still cannot quite believe I am going to get on.
I was supposed to be on this same flight yesterday, but my flight out of Columbus was delayed due to mechanical problems and I missed my connection out of O’Hare. I spent about 3 hours with a ticket agent last night trying to re-work my flights, but was told that there was not a single seat available for the next several days – some flights are even booked until early April! I was distraught, to say the least. By 8:00 pm, I was also exhausted, both physically and emotionally. It took an enormous amount of energy just to actually get myself to leave home. I didn’t want to leave Dad. I didn’t want to leave Grandma. And I didn’t want to leave the place where my Mom will now be forever.
I finally accepted that there was nothing else I could do to assure any flight out of Chicago, and took the airline’s hotel voucher. As I carted my luggage for what seemed like miles around the airport, feeling dejected and hopeless about my chances for the next day’s flight, I looked at my Mom’s ring, given to her by her father and now given to me by my father. I twisted it nervously, and silently prayed to Mom, asking her to watch over me and help me out of this distressing situation.
At the hotel, I got in touch with my cousin Ann, who lives outside Chicago. What I hadn’t realized is that Ann lives just 20 minutes from the hotel where the airline put me up! She offered to pick me up the next morning and to keep me company during the long wait until I could check with the airline again about the possibility of getting on the Saturday flight as stand-by.
I tried hard to relax, even though my mind kept replaying all the things I could have, should have, done differently to avoid this mess. Of course, the reality is that sometimes these things just happen, and there really wasn’t anything that I did or didn’t do that caused me to miss my flight. I tried to remind myself that there is a reason for everything, and although I don’t know now what was the reason for me to not be on that flight, I would like to believe that there was some reason.
Ann picked me up around 10:00 Saturday morning, and we met her husband and daughter for brunch at one of their favorite cafes. I rarely see my extended family, and when I do it is usually at some big event – weddings and funerals, mostly. On those occasions, I never have the opportunity to sit and visit with my cousins, to spend an extended amount of time catching up, hearing about their kids’ successes and struggles, about their own and their spouses’ careers, to really get to know about my cousins and their lives. Today, I got to spend 6 hours with my cousin Ann. And it was wonderful.
Ann’s father, my uncle, passed away last November. We talked a lot today about our parents. About how awful it is to lose one of them. About how we don’t know how to help our surviving parents. We talked about some of the completely unhelpful things some well-intentioned people do and say. And the amazing things that many people do that help you get through each day. We talked about how hard it is to leave your remaining parent when it is time, knowing they are hurting and lonely and lost, and how you don’t want to leave because you are hurting and lonely and lost too.
And we talked about the happy things in our lives – her beautiful children, growing into young adults; my job and life in Kyiv; and many other things.
We came to the airport early, not sure if I would be spending another night in Chicago or not. I was a ball of nerves, prepared for a huge struggle to get on any flight, possibly at great expense even. Ann waited with me, just in case I couldn’t get out and would have to go back with her for the night. We watched the ticket agents closely, trying to size up who would be the kindest, who would take pity on me and try to help me. Ann picked the man on the end, and as luck would have it, that’s the one who was available when it was my turn. I took a deep breath and started to tell my long, complicated story. He took my tickets, confirmed that the flight was full but said he thought it was worth it to try for stand-by. Ann and I chatted as he plugged away at the computer, doing God-knows-what in there. After a few minutes, he asked how many bags I had to check. Ann and I looked at each other, eyebrows raised, but too nervous to ask what it meant that he was checking my bags. “If you can get me on this flight, I will give you a big kiss!” I said to him. He looked up and laughed, then went back to the computer. Another few minutes, and he handed me a piece of paper that looked suspiciously like a boarding pass! “Am I on stand-by?” I asked. “No, you have a seat.” Huh? “You are on the flight. The plane to Warsaw is really full, but the one to Kyiv is nearly empty, so if you don’t like the seat on that flight, you can just change it when you get to Warsaw.” Don’t like the seat? Are you kidding? I have a seat! I love the seat!
Ann blew him a kiss, I shook his hand, and in lieu of a kiss, he asked me to light a candle in church for him when I get back to Kyiv. Michael, I will light many candles for you!
As we walked away from the ticket counter, I turned to Ann and said “Gosh, someone is really watching over me today!” “Of course,” she said, “and you know who it is.”
Anka in Kyiv 