On the Porch
Onisha Ellis
July 22, 2023 flight day.
Our suitcases had been packed and ready for two days. Our daughter had spent her day off work getting us organized and she had done an outstanding job of it. We didn’t want to mess it up but of course there was some stealthy tucking here and there in our carryons. We felt a bit like children hiding something from their mom.
We had chosen an evening flight in the hope that my husband would have less anxiety and even sleep part of the way. A friend offered to give us a ride to the Orlando airport but I suspect she may have been rethinking her offer when she saw how much luggage we had. Her car was a midsize SUV and we weren’t sure our luggage would fit but our daughter once again came to the rescue with her excellent luggage placement.
We arrived at the airport feeling relaxed and not the least nervous about the flight. There was a bit of confusion checking our luggage and getting the wheelchair for my husband, but soon we moved on to security. That’s when the chaos began.
Since we were basically first time fliers, my husband watched a lot of You Tube videos about processing through security. He was carrying a CPAP machine and a nebulizer and felt anxious about them being confiscated. ( I had assured them they wouldn’t be allowed to do that)
Photo Credit: Michael Gray, Flickr
Our daughter went through the scanning process first, then an airport attendant pushed my husband forward. I followed behind. But somehow, my husband was pulled out of the line and abandoned by the attendant. The line was chaos. Our daughter was frantically gathering our things from the scanner and we were both looking for my husband. She went back into the line and found him sitting alone and stressed. No one in security had any idea why he was left. it was upsetting.
We got the attention of the airport staff who was supposed to bring him through security and finally we were all processed. As if to make up for the delay at security, the attendant pushing my husband’s wheelchair sped through the terminal so that I could barely keep up. We arrived at our gate with no further incidents and settled down to wait for our flight.
About an hour before the flight an announcement was made stating the flight was overbooked and asking for volunteers to not board. Our response was no way!.
We were flying into Vancouver, Canada and I was hoping that would be a better experience….
After my retirement, I decided to re-learn the canning and preserving skills I learned from my mother but hadn’t practiced for twenty years. I titled the blog Old Things R New to chronicle my experience. Since then I have been blessed to have six other bloggers join me, DiVoran Lites, Bill Lites, Judy Wills, Louise Gibson, Janet Perez Eckles and Melody Hendrix
In addition to blogging, I’m a general “mom Friday” for my author daughter, Rebekah Lyn. I also manage her website, Rebekah Lyn Books
My 2023 goal is continue to use my love of photographs and words to be an encourager on social media.
Old Things R New 
I’m sure you are glad that part of the trip is over.
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I can feel for your husband in that situation.
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