Part of being married is juggling families. This is especially hard when your families live in different states, neither of them being states YOU happen to live in. Our compromise was to switch holidays. Each year one family gets Thanksgiving and one gets Christmas so hopefully neither feels slighted.
This year’s travel plans did not get off to a good start. The closest airport to Ryan’s family is in Charlotte, NC and it’s a US Airways hub. We were on the last flight out on Sunday. The flight was packed with people who had obviously been getting in some beach time before the bitter cold Minnesota winter. We pull out of the gate and then stop.
Never a good sign.
They tell us at first that it’s a computer error. After a half hour on the runway, we go back to the gate and find out our engine isn’t getting fuel. Basically if we had taken off eventually we would have dropped out of the sky. Thank Krishna* for computer warning systems. So while we are all glad we are alive, we now realize we are going to be stuck in Charlotte for the night.
Everyone is making phone calls to work and family with varying degrees of annoyance in their voice. By the time US Airways gets everyone rebooked and in hotels, it’s 2am. Ryan and I only get around 3 hours of sleep before we have to crawl out of our hotel room, which doesn’t have shampoo, and get over to the airport again to make a connection in Detroit and finally make it back to Minneapolis. I wish I could have gotten a picture of Ryan and I sitting in the Coney Island restaurant in the Detroit airport, my hair a frizzy, slick mess and Ryan with odd spots of facial hair, both with bags under our eyes, chowing down on a greasy burger. Simultaneously horrifying and hilarious.
It was great to be in Charlotte where it is warm and Ryan can go golfing with his dad and brother. Where we can hang out with his crazy dog Rudy and watch the Notre Dame game we had to record. Most of all I’m just glad he gets to see his family. Michigan is just a little easier to get to than North Carolina from Minnesota. My parents are even coming up for “spring break,” the perks of my mom being a teacher, and my dad having 6 weeks of vacation a year.
Who I really miss is my brother and my friends Heather and Ashley. It’s difficult for my brother to fly on his own, and it’s really hard for my friends to find time to get over to MN, or for me to get over to MI for that matter. They are the people that keep me sane and laughing. I wish they were a building away like they used to be rather than a state and a lake away like they are now.
But we can’t have all that we want in this world. In the end we need to be thankful for what we have. And what Ryan and I have is a lot.
Until next time, keep calm and carry on.
*A note as to a) who Krishna is and b) why the heck I’m thanking him. Krishna is a very well liked Hindu god who is popular in their mythology. I have started to “thank Krishna” because it’s less offensive than thanking God or gods or Jesus or Allah, because no one knows who Krishna is outside of 1 billion Hindus and some people who have taken the time to study this stuff. ANYWAY, it’s a way for me to get around my tendency to use God’s name in vain and offend someone. There is probably a Hinduism post coming, be ready.
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