Angels Among Us...

Saturday night was my 10-year high school reunion. I couldn't believe it had already been 10 years and was so excited to see everyone. Unfortunately, my parents decided to leave our fab house in Fresno and move to Highland, Utah so we didn't have a place we could stay for awhile. Brooke said we could stay with her & Mike at her mom's so we decided to make the quick trip out there. CB was a trooper. We flew Friday from here to Atlanta (yes, we did go backwards) and then on to San Jose, CA. It was about 7 hours of flying and we got there at 9pm which was 11 pm our time. CB was exhausted; he didn't sleep on the plane either so I spent a lot of time walking up and down the aisles, standing in the back with the flight attendants, etc... so he wouldn't get fussy. Luckily he's very content and didn't fuss a minute. Once we landed we drove to Fresno which was another 2+ hours so when we got there, CB was so wired he wouldn't shut his eyes. After a bit of me holding my hand over his eyes to help them shut (oh, the tricks you learn), he fell asleep only to wake up at 2am and 3am and then 5:30am for good. Joy.

Saturday he took a few naps and we went shopping (Little Rock is a little lacking in the great shopping) and that night was the reunion. CB stayed home asleep in bed with Brooke's mom and we went and saw tons of old friends from Nelson Elementary and on up through C-dub. It was a trip. Everyone looked the same but a little different (some a little older, some a little rounder, some a little thinner, etc...) and it was like the same as it was 10 years ago but we were all in different places and stages of life. It was so fun.

Then Sunday we headed back to San Jose and back through Atlanta and home. CB was just dead. He started crying a bit on the flight to San Jose so I put him in the sling (thanks heaven for the sling) and he went right to sleep. I was stressed out because he likes to scream happy screams to hear his voice so I was trying to keep him quiet and entertained. I kept the in-seat TV on the countdown and the minutes until we landed couldn't go fast enough. At one point I had to change his diaper (an impossible feat in the tiny airplane bathroom with the toilet seat cover as a changing table) and this sweet grandma asked if I was traveling alone. I said, yes. She said, "I'd be happy to hold your darling little baby if you need a break. I'm sure you can't go to the bathroom with him and I know it gets overwhelming". I almost started crying right then. What a blessing. Unfortunately he needed a diaper change and then was the sling nap so I never took her up on her offer. When we landed everyone around us kept saying "What a good baby" "He's so darling" "That's the best baby I've ever flown with", etc... Even if they didn't mean it, it made me feel so much better knowing that he hadn't been bothering anyone. All the comments gave me the strength to face the next leg of our flight.

We ate our dinner (avocado sandwich which CB loved) and sat at the gate waiting for the next flight to depart. They announced that they were overbooked (surprise, surprise) and they needed 5 volunteers "with flexible travel plans" to stay over in Atlanta and they'd pay for hotel, food, etc... plus a $400 Delta voucher. Technically, I had very "flexible travel plans". I didn't have to work, T could pick us up the next day instead, I didn't check anything so we could just go hop on an airport shuttle and stay in a hotel, but I was just too exhausted to even think about unpacking and repacking that suitcase again. So we didn't take advantage. I still think maybe I should've done it, but since CB & I both slept in until 9:30 am this morning, I'm pretty sure we both just needed to be home.

The last angel was on our flight to Little Rock. It was a very kind man named Mr. Tebow. He was so sweet to CB so I asked him if he had children. "Just 5" he answered. He showed me his family and his grandchildren and told me a little about his work. He was to speak at 2 events in Little Rock about his family, the Gospel, etc... He told me his sons played football and one was pretty good at U of Florida. Timmy Tebow is his name. It seemed to ring a bell but I don't know much about football. "He won the Heisman last year. Have you ever heard of the Heisman?" he asked me. "Oh. Yeah, I've definitely heard of the Heisman but I don't keep track of who wins it each year." Mr. Tebow just laughed.

Almost the whole flight he entertained CB with me. He let him play with his shiny silver watch, he held him and let him look out the window at the city lights, he played peek-a-boo, showed him pictures in the Delta magazine, etc... I was so grateful for all the help. It makes me want to always be helpful to strangers along the way.