The Good With the Bad

It was a hectic, crazy, stressful weekend.  My grandmother, we were informed on Friday, was probably dying.  I hopped a one-way flight from Syracuse to awful O'Hare and crashed at my uncle's house.  The night of the great United Airlines shutdown which also included a full-on sprint through Philly airport - not kidding, I looked like I ran a 1500m race when I ran onto my connection as the door hit me in the butt as it closed. I spent quality time with my grandma and was assured that she was stabilizing.  Jeff could find me no flights out of O'Hare until Tuesday, and the Chicago news stations showed footage of packed terminals full of angry customers unable to go anywhere.  My dad wondered if there were any flights from Dayton to Syracuse available; there were.  The plan was to drive home with my folks and then catch a plane.

My uncle and my mom, however, ended up taking my grandpa to the hospital Sunday morning instead.  (He is stable now too).

So out of the chaos emerged the opportunity to spend time with my dad.  We made the drive from Chicago to Dayton together, had a nice lunch, and then he brought me to the airport.

I had another unexpected bonus in the form of a layover in Washington, DC and enough time to catch up with my sister and her husband.  Just after they left the airport and I had spoken to my children on the phone to assure them I was coming home, my flight was canceled.  My luck took a nose dive again: no more flights to Syracuse that night.  Thankfully, my brother-in-law turned around and picked me up and I spent the night at their place. 

So here I sit in Reagan National Airport, nervously watching my gate assignment hopping around like a rabbit, the exact thing that happened before my flight canceled last night.

I miss my family. I am tired.  I am skeptical in the airline's ability to get me home.  As my sister and I parted ways in the Metro this morning, she said something about calling her if I needed to stay again. Oh, I hope not.  But, as this crazy weekend goes, even if I have another round of unpleasant surprises, there are certainly worse things than getting extra time to spend with my sister.