Somethings I hope to never do again...

My sister, Rachel, who had been staying with us for the last month was scheduled to fly home July 21. From the day we scheduled the flight home (months ago) I was not looking forward to her departure. I knew it was going to be difficult to let my little helper go and that Kalvin was going to miss her. The flight was scheduled for 8:20 PM and leaving from the JFK Airport in Jamaica, NY (just outside the Big Apple). We made the most of that day by taking a ferry to see the Statue of Liberty. The weather was beautiful with few sprinkles of rain and overcast skies to shade us from the sun. On our way to the airport we drove by Ground Zero. It was incredible to see the uneven and bumpy road which I can only imagine is from the towers falling. The buildings close were noticeably resurfaced. I wish we'd had more time to see the city.

When we got to the airport, I thought we had a lot of time so I wasn't rushing. When we finally made it to the Jet Blue check-in I looked at the time and noticed her flight left in 30 minutes! And there were about 10 people in line in front of us to check-in. I knew she wasn't going to make the flight. At that moment of finding out we were going to have to find Rachel another way home, it was as if a switch went on in Kalvin's head that it was time to start terrorising mom. He had a poopy diaper and was laying on the ground scooting away from me and into strangers and their luggage. With Tristen strapped to me, I had restricted mobility and felt helpless. I did what I could to stay calm and took Kalvin to the bathroom to change his diaper. We made our way back to the car as I talked to Duane on the phone and he began looking up other flights for Rachel. Kalvin demanded to be out of the stroller and was walking just fine with us when he decided to take the "walk-alator" (like an escalator but on flat ground) the opposite direction from the rest of us. I called to him and he started to walk back but then decided to run away again. A tall black man came to the rescue and ran over, scooped up Kalvin and brought him to me. That was all Kalvin needed to start acting the way I wanted. It scared him half to death! LOL

We got back to the car and I fed Tristen while Duane looked up flights. Well, to make a longer story a little shorter, the battery in my phone died before we could make any permanent decision on a flight so I drove around town till I found a pay phone. I picked up the phone that was sticky with some kind of scum and phoned Duane. He did not answer and I started to leave a message, but was cut of by some kind of operator because there must have been no microphone on my end (so it couldn't hear me). I turned to leave but felt prompted to try again. I called again and Duane answered; sure enough, I could hear him but he couldn't hear me. I began yelling into the phone and he said he could barely hear me, and thus began our conversation.

The finalized plan was for Rachel to fly home on Southwest the following morning at 6:10. It was about 10:30 PM at this point. After check out a few cheap Motels, we decided to sleep in the car at the aiports parking garage. It was a hard night. I didn't want to sleep too deep for fear that we would miss this flight as well. By 2:00 in the morning, we made our way to the Southwest check-in without knowing that they would be closed till 4:30. We found a couple wheelchairs and made up camp. Kalvin did not sleep at all.

When Rachel walked away down the gangway, Kalvin cried, reaching his hand out to her and calling her name. It was so sad! I immediately diverted his attention to the window so he could see the planes. He got to see Rachel's plane and repeatedly pointed it out to me.

The drive home was long and hard with a few stops for sleep. Kalvin slept the whole way till we got home and then he would not sleep at all, though I begged him to so I could rest. Tristen was an angel!

This morning after Kalvin woke up, he asked "Where Rachel go?" I reminded him that Rachel had gone home and with that he told me, "Ah home. Ah home." meaning he wanted to go home and began walking downstairs and to put his shoes on.

"This is our new home." I told him, but it didn't seem to stick.

So, before moving out here, I remember being warned that people "back east" are not very friendly. I've seen that. One instance that I laugh about is when we were going to drive in a toll tunnel. I paid the toll worker $2.00 in dimes (to get rid of some change) and then handed her a $20 bill. She looked at the bill for a second then said in a very nasty tone, "You can't do that! Either give me the change or the $20!" I laughed after leaving and told Rachel the woman couldn't count.

To come: Kalvin's birthday party with the Mickelson's and Ellsworth's!