A Slice of Life
Bill Lites
That terrible 9/11/2001 attack had shaken our nation, and we started trying to look at how this event was going to affect our lives. One of our immediate concerns was that six months earlier, DiVoran and I had signed up for (and paid for) a two-week all-inclusive trip to southern Spain; to begin on 9/19/2001. We had been looking forward to and planning for that trip with anticipation for the past six months. Now what were we going to do? All the airlines were shut down, and who knew for how long! Would our trip be cancelled? Would we be able to go? Should we go? Question after question ran through our minds. So, after much prayer and consideration, we received our assurance in the scriptures; ‘…He will order His angels to protect and guard you.’ Luke 4:10b (New Living Translation).
We decided right then and there, that IF our tour was still a go, and IF the airlines started flying again, and IF we could get seats, we wouldn’t let this terrible event ruin our plans. WE WOULD GO!
Photo Credit: https://www.flightglobal.com/airlines/cancellations/
Day 1
By some miracle, it wasn’t long before things began to calm down. We contacted our tour company and were assured that our tour to Spain was still on, and that they were looking forward to seeing us there as scheduled. The airlines started flying again, and since many people were “Never going to fly again!” we had no problem confirming our itinerary on the designated airlines, and even on the scheduled date. Of course, the atmosphere at the airports in Orlando, Atlanta, Paris, and Malaga, as well as on all the airplanes was very tense, but everyone tried to force a smile and were very courteous to us.
Photo Credit: https://flyawaysimulation.com/delta-airlines-l1011-tristar/
Other than short layovers in Atlanta and Paris, we made all of our Delta and Air France connections, as scheduled, without any problems. Looking back on those flights, I must admit the service was excellent. The food on each of the flights was wonderful (no peanuts or pretzels), the flight attendants couldn’t do enough for us, and we had plenty of room to stretch out and sleep if we wanted to, as the flights were only about half-full (No they didn’t go so far as upgrading us to first class).
Photo Credit: https://www.inflightfeed.com/delta-airlines/
—–To Be Continued—–
Bill is a retired Mechanical engineer living with his wonderful artist/writer wife, DiVoran, of 64 years in Titusville, Florida. He was born and raised in the Southwest, did a tour of duty with the U.S. Navy, attended Northrop University in Southern California and ended up working on America’s Manned Space Program for 35 years. He currently is retired and spends most of his time building and flying R/C model airplanes, traveling, writing blogs about his travels for Word Press and supporting his wife’s hobbies with framing, editing and marketing. He also volunteers with a local church Car Care Ministry and as a tour guide at the Valiant Air Command Warbird Museum there in Titusville. Bill has two wonderful children, two outstanding grandchildren, and a loving sister and her husband, all of whom also live in Central Florida, so he and DiVoran are rewarded by having family close to spend lots of quality time with.
One of Bill’s favorite Scriptures is: John 10:10
Old Things R New 
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