Another Kind of Mile High Club...

I have been told by many that they love when I travel because I always come back with some great stories.  I just assumed that everybody had travel experiences like I do but now I'm beginning to second guess that thought.   My boyfriend asks why I feel compelled to talk to everyone.  I like talking to people. And as my son Jack would tell people when he was little, "I can't help it, that is the way God made me!"

Besides, all of my encounters have really helped me to reflect on what kind of person I am. I use the people I meet as a barometer for what kind of person I am. Certain behaviors of strangers remind me of who I once was, how I am now and what I strive to be like.

Yesterday I was faced with two different beasts.  Each taught me a little something about myself. The first flight was only 25 minutes so I figured it would be uneventful especially at 5 in the morning.  However I was sorely mistaken as I sat next to rednecks, Jeb, Earl and Vern. The only things that were missing was a banjo, some overalls and a few teeth.  I say this as to only give you a visual.  However, they have caused me to think that I may have a tendency to stereotype and is probably something I need to work on. In any case, throw in the fact that it was Jeb's first time on a plane and the other two claimed to be experienced world travelers. 

As a result,  the jet setters found it to be comical how uncomfortable Jeb was with the prospect of a large piece of machinery like the one we were buckled into was going to get us to point "A" to point "B", 35,000 miles above the ground.  Breaking out in a sweat, Jeb proceeds to think aloud upon take off as he glances out of his window, "Isn't it funny that the plane just don't fall outta the sky?"  I politely respond with a nod and vehemently forced the visual of us actually falling "outta the sky" outta my head. And just as I close my eyes to say The Rosary, funny guy Earl poses the question to Jeb..."Hey, Is that duck tape on the wing?" which was promptly  followed by Vern's redneck, creepy giggle. Which ultimately caused my knee jerk New York reaction to look across the aisle and mouth "seriously dude?? You're an a#%!"  Thankfully, our interaction was interrupted by the pilot announcing our decent into Charlotte and I could eventually escape the scene from Deliverance...

...Only to be met on my next flight by the Barbara Streisand look alike who was similar in character to Mrs. Focker in "Meet The Fockers".  She sat next to me in the aisle knitting. And silly me, I initiated a conversation with her because it was as cold as a meat freezer in the plane and regretfully I asked her if she would knit me a blanket.  As she responded to me and we made idle chit chat throughout the flight, I noticed her purse. It was purple with more of a magenta tone, and shaped like a fish with different patterned patches as the scales like one you would buy a three year old at a crafts fair.  She noticed my pensiveness which was in reality, the thought bubble over my head that said "What the fu#% is that? and then she claimed that it was "bathroom :30!" which caused another thought bubble saying "What the fu#% are you talking about? And she ventured off to the ladies room. 

When she returned from the bathroom, she smelled so good and stupidly I commented, asking her what perfume she wears. Whispering, she responded with "ya know, I get real stinky down there" as she pulled her fish purse on her lap and yanked at it like she was de-hooking the thing.  She pulled out a spray bottle with some pastel blue and yellow colors out if the the purse pocket disguised as a fish gill. She proceeded to tell me how it worked like a charm on long trips like these.   Speechless, all I could do is throw my head back and silently ask God, "Why me?"  Can't I just sit next to someone normal when I travel?  Why do I have to sit next to the twit who sprays her twat with pretty smelling perfume?  

After regrouping, I excused myself and got up to go to the bathroom. "Oh sure honey. Ooooooh ooooh ooooh but wait, " as she chases me down the aisle reaching into the fish's mouth. "Take the spray!" she offers,  (in not so much of a whisper).  "I insist", she said.  "Try it out and if you like it, you can have it. I have more." 

I respond, "No really. It's okay", and briskly walk down the aisle to the lavatory, fussing to open the folding door but its locked. Waiting patiently and trying to keep Mrs. Focker at bay, I hear that sweet clicking sound of the bathroom lock sliding open,  doors unfold and who is standing there but the redneck who I called an a#% on my earlier flight.  Regretting that I didn't take Focker up on her crotch mace, I looked down and let the redneck pass peacefully. 

I went in, locked the collapsible door that protected me from all those traveling freaks, I regrouped and asked God to protect me from falling out of the sky, and prayed that the duck tape was secure and that sweet pants would leave me alone when I got back to my seat. The "Mile High Club" took on a whole new meaning as it turned into more of a sanctuary of prayer for me.

I slithered back into my seat and thankfully my Mile High Cathedral prayers worked because the pilot announced that we were making out initial decent in to San Diego.  I gathered my belongings together and reviewed my encounters during my traveling roadshow. And just as I was thinking how crazy Mrs. Focker was, she turned to me and so graciously thanked me for my conversation and wished me safe travels. I did the same and then scolded myself for being so judgy wudgy.  And as the wheels touched the ground, she clapped showing her appreciation for the pilot and his crew for getting us there safely...just like my Nana Barry would to do!  And that is when I realized that with every interaction with someone, comes something valuable if you are open to it.  As for my experience with Jeb, Earl and Vern?  I am still not sure about it but maybe can venture to guess that it was the old lesson of treat everyone with kindness because you never know when you will meet again...

From Ruins to Rainbows - Never Forget!

I recently had the wonderful fortune of being able to see Billy Joel in concert at Madison Square Garden.  For me, it was particularly special.  You see, Billy Joel is to me and my hometown, Oyster Bay, Long Island what Bruce Springsteen is to Asbury Park, NJ.  The iconic Piano Man played all of his hits as well as some lower profile songs that only a die-hard Billy fan would know. One song that really resonated with me than ever before was "We Didn't Start The Fire".

If you aren’t familiar with the song and its background, “We Didn’t Start The Fire” includes brief, rapid references to more than 100 headline events between 1949, the year of Joel’s birth and 1989 when the song was released.  Joel said that the song was written “from a place of malevolence” and that it reflected the attitude of “waiting for the other shoe to drop.”  He sums up 40 years of famous Presidents, celebrities, kinds of cars, types of music and novels, political issues and tragic events into a 3 minute song.

There were plenty of noteworthy historical events that had unfolded in my 47 years and I actually think it would be cool to research them and see which ones were the most impactful.  But for today, I can say with much certainty that, it was September 11th when the biggest shoe dropped for me and all of America.

As the anniversary of that terrifying attack on our Country is eerily upon us again, I reflect…

I still brace myself for the wave of emotions that overcome me on this day.  I compartmentalize them for 364 days a year and allow myself to release on this day.  As I sat at Church early this morning, I found it more difficult to process and I find it harder to write about. 

After 14 years, it feels like it was just yesterday.  My memory often fails me at my age, but I can remember every detail from that horrific day. It's as vivid as the days I gave birth to each of my children.  Fourteen years later, I am still in disbelief over the events that unfolded and how it literally and figuratively turned that city black on such a beautiful, perfectly crisp, fall day.

The events on that day forced me to morph from the Wall Street wife who at the time was probably a little more consumed with what was had as opposed to what should have been offered.  Since then, I have committed myself to being more true to myself, my kids, my family, my Country!  I have learned to embrace the good out of the ruins of 9/11 yet on the anniversary each year, I am overcome with anger or the similar malevolence that Billy Joel describes in his powerful song.  Each year at this time, I mourn not only those I lost, I mourn the “what could have been?”  The things that never happened as a result of the actions of those vile terrorists.  The questions are just too long to list.

And as I sat quietly in a dark Church early this morning, I mourned the fact that I will never receive the answers to the “what could have been” questions.  I also reflected upon the incredible image of the rainbow that was captured over The Freedom Tower yesterday representing those lost but also reminding me of the many people, places and experiences that I have been blessed with as a result of the attacks upon our Country 14 years ago.  So I wipe my tears, and I buck up, shake it off and express my gratitude for all of the adversities that have forced me to grow into who I am today. 

I pray for all of my friends who have lost parents, spouses, and children.  I pray for the healing and growth of those directly affected.  I thank God for the brave acts of cops, firefighters and service men and women who became heroes that day at a very high cost.  In this critical time in our Country’s history, I beg for the safety of my family and friends and, my Country and I again attempt to embrace the uncomfortable realization that life must and does go on.

 

In the words of Billy Joel…

“We didn’t start the fire! It was always burning since the world's been turning
We didn't start the fire, No, we didn't light it but we tried to fight it…

We didn't start the fire, It was always burning since the world's been turning.
We didn't start the fire, but when we are gone, It will still burn on, and on, and on, and on...