The little surprise that didn't go as planned

My eldest daughter decided a month ago that she wasn't coming home from college for the summer. It was like a knife stab to the heart for this mother who lives for the three seasons; Christmas break, Spring Break, and Summer. But she's at the crucial point in life where "what do I do now" is closing in with only one year left of college and life looming largely. She made the decision to stay behind, take some summer courses, work, and try to find all the things she needs to add to a graduate school application.

She's twenty-one so we are here for guidance, to lend an ear, and not to make her decisions for her. Let me tell you, that ain't easy. Not for this mother who knows everything that is best for her child (not to mention the rest of the world).

So, the husband and I crossed off "travel to NC" to pack up the kid off our To Do List. Then the phone calls came and each time the daughter had tears. For this mom, five hundred and seventy-seven miles away (not that I'm counting), and not able to wrap my arms around my kid when she is sad, hurt, etc. is plain horrific. She made noises about making the wrong decisions, but we talked her off the ledge, made jokes, but...a mom knows.

So when circumstances occurred where I was able to fly to NC to attend an opening of her class' exhibit on Frankenstein I latched on to it like a mom on a mission. The husband decided the next day to join me and we kept it a secret, wanting to have that surprise moment where she spotted us. The nonstop plane ride on Allegiant Air would get us there in plenty of time to pick up our rental car, check into our hotel, shower, change, and get to the two-hour opening. It was set.

Only it didn't work out that way.

It began with the flight being delayed by over an hour. I didn't panic. Allegiant is known for changes due to all sorts of excuses (see recent 60 minutes segment), but they were the only ones giving me a decently priced flight and the ability to make this happen so I crossed my fingers and hoped we would be in the air at the new time.

We weren't. We sat on the runway for even longer, but once in the air, two hours behind our original time, I took a deep breath. I wouldn't get to shower, but we were still on time to make the opening. Not panicking.

Because we booked at different times, hubby and I sat apart. I was in a row with a gorgeous nice man and a six-year-old who belonged to the family in front of me and to my left. Her infectious happiness at flying and staring out the window had us all interacting. She chatted with the two of us, giggled a lot, and spilled her soda on herself, but the man and I both had been there, done that, and so we engaged her and cleaned up the mess.

Her: "What's your name?"
Me: "Cara"
Her: "Karen?"
Me: "Cara. As in caring. Because I'm so caring."
Her: "Because you're always carrying a backpack?"
Me: "Uh, wrong caring, carrying, never mind."

Her: "What's your name?"
Him: "Frank"
Her: "As in Frankenstein?"
Me: "Whoa! That's what I'm going to NC to see!"

We made it, but only above the airport. The pilot informed us that we would be circling it for awhile due to a flight in front of us requesting an emergency landing.We all groaned. We circled as my time window for the event began closing. Still, I didn't panic.

When the pilot announced that our plane was now heading to another airport to land due to the emergency now taking up our runway, we all groaned. We landed and were told to stay seated. By that point, I just couldn't do it. I needed to stand. I unbuckled my seatbelt, turned, and encountered all sorts of stares as I stood.

Me: "Yes, yes, I'm aware I'm disobeying the rules, but I've got to stand. Seriously. Middle-aged, fat woman with a bad back who is still not panicking."

I stood while everyone thought, "Rebel. Troublemaker. Smart-ass." Then I turned to the back of the plane and announced I would be leading everyone in calisthenics. Only one man laughed. Turns out he was from Indiana. Of course, he was. A sense of humor.

By then, others were getting up and the stewardess announced we could use the bathroom while they refueled the plane. Thus began a "get to know one another" gathering. We exchanged reasons for traveling to NC, flying experiences, jokes, and everyone was cordial and calm. It was a pleasant experience and after an hour of that, we buckled and returned to our original landing destination. It took us 18 minutes to fly from Greensboro to Raleigh. I still did not panic.

We got our luggage, said our good-byes to our new friends, rode the shuttle to the rental car place and when I saw that the line for renting was out the door and around the building like a ride at DisneyWorld, I lost my shit. I've done this before as my readers have read. This line was an over an hour long line generously, but the man telling those in front that the cars just weren't there yet put it even further. By now daughter's event had just started. Rush hour had just started. We were not going to make this surprise. I panicked.

Hubby did not. He practically climbed a fence into another rental lot where he walked right to the desk, ordered a car, and called me to bring the luggage and hop the fence myself. I did without a scratch. Well, and the nice rental car man from our new company - Shout out to National Car Rental - lifted my luggage and offered me his hand to help with the climbing. We sped down the road, made it to the campus, and ran the rest of the way. We made it with a little less than an hour to spare.

Daughter was surprised. She cried. Totally worth the hassle.