I hadn't really traveled much before I fell in love with Doc. When our 1st year of college was over, I went home with him to meet his family. They lived in Chicagoland (which is the land in/around Chicago), and I stayed for a month (I got a job with a temp agency to earn some $ while I stayed with them).
When the day of my departure arrived, we got in the car to head to the airport. Doc's mom was driving, and we'd made it all the way downtown, when suddenly I realized I didn't have my ticket. This was pre-cell phones and there wasn't anything I could do about it, so we just continued to the airport because I'd miss the flight otherwise. I thought maybe (naively) that they could just print me another one.
Well, they couldn't print me another ticket. But they did say that if I could get my original ticket there by the last flight out, they'd let me fly standby on that one. Which meant my (hopefully!) Future Father In Law (we weren't engaged, but I was in love with his son and was TRYING to make a good impression) had to leave work, go to the house, look around and find the ticket I'd left there (on the piano. I'm a sucker for pianos and had sat down right before departing to play it one last time) and then drive down to Midway airport to deliver it to me. I was SO mortified at the hassle I'd created.
Doc left for a 2-year mission to Argentina after that, but while he was gone, I went to visit his family. This time I was traveling by train. Have you ever done an Amtrak trip? Well I have. And when it was time to go to the station, this same (hopefully!) Future Father In Law drove me down to the city, but when we got there, it turned out I was A DAY EARLY...and had to drive BACK to his house with him (longest drive of MY LIFE), and repeat the same trip the next day. By now I figured I was completely beyond redemption in his eyes and wished I could just turn into a soap bubble and float away.
Instead, I became a flight attendant and now I'm pretty savvy about travel.
And that's my story for today.
Grateful for:
1) Becoming a savvy traveler
2) Being able to laugh at things that used to mortify me
3) Learning to roll with the punches in life
♥
6 comments:
I wish this story to ended, "The next time I went to visit them, I went by bus. And it was just right."
You are a savvy traveler. Through both life and the air, you learn from your experiences. A well-traveled soul is someone who accepts the lessons as part of the travel plan and stops to take a deep breath when they need to.
You have been in my thoughts, lately, dear heart. I just wanted to let you know that.
love,
Debbie
So funny! I would have been mortified too! I'm the same way and still feel that hot, red-faced feeling sometimes just at the glimmer of a thought about past embarrassments.
I have a big smile on my face after reading this--I know you must have been mortified, but you sure do tell the story well!
i remember one time when i didn't have a cell phone, i was coming back by train from visiting my boyfriend and my parents were picking me up at the train station. i slept through my stop though and ended up an hour away! i had to wait for the next train through (this was at like 10:00 at night) and had no way to reach my parents and let them know what was going on. it was pretty bad. needless to say, after that, whenever i traveled by train, i made sure to drink a lot of caffeine...
Blue, what a delightful blog,you have such a wonderful warmth and made me laugh. ADORE your gratitude summary at the end of each post. Something truly profound about that. And thank you so much for your encouraging words on the MWP interview today. Blessings to you (and good luck on that envelope coming next week!). Chrysula
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