The Kindness of Strangers

Last Monday, my parents loaded up me and the twerp for an early flight back to Tennessee. It was a year to-the-day since I packed up my car, my belly, the cat, the dog and drove across country to live with my parents.

Watching the rain come down in sheets for some reason made me less inclined to cry, even though it was feeling a little more bitter than sweet at the moment to leave the comforts of California for a long trip to our new "home."

Balancing one bag on one handlebar of Quinn's stroller, and the cat on the other, while hanging on to a huge bag weighted down with all the baby essentials, and mine as well, and a carseat base dangling from fingers free from steering the stroller -- I wasn't sure I was going to make it past security let alone to Nashville.

The line was longer than we had imagined, but that was in part to our late start out the door... Which all began with the moment my Dad picked up one of my two massive duffel bags and it literally began to burst as the seams. Thankfully he made a mad and successful dash to their attic for a replacement bag, and was well into transferring my oodles of stuff by the time I reappeared with a semi-awake kid.

Back to the fiasco at security. Let's just call it a cluster, of sorts. Shoes off, jacket off, computer out, boarding pass in hand, liquids and gels bagged. My fear was they would make me toss Quinn's breakfast of breast-milk, but that turned out not to be an issue. (The TSA lady mumbled something about doing some sort of litmus test on it... Yeah sure, I buy that.)


No, the nutty part was that they wanted me to take the cat and the baby out of their respective "containers" and hold both of them while walking through the metal detector -- AND showing my boarding pass. Now, I'll admit anyone who can make breakfast from their teets is pretty freaking amazing, but I'm not THAT talented, or stupid. Besides, my cat still weighs more than my baby (18lb>15lb), and both of them can have really sharp claws!

It must have been the look I gave my parents like I'd might as well just turn around and go home with them that another TSA person offered something a bit more reasonable... that I carry one and then come back for the other. So, we survived, and I didn't get clawed to shreds.

Unfortunately, the chaos kept me from giving my parents a proper goodbye, but perhaps that was a good thing since I'd just start bawling and then the TSA would have to test my tears to make sure they weren't really a secret weapon of sorts.

The rest of the trip (two flights and a shuttle ride) went incredibly smoothly. That was entirely thanks to the kindness of strangers. It was awe inspiring. Three people, who weren't even with the airline, went way out of their way to help me and my traveling circus.

When I had ten minutes to make more moo before the next flight, someone offered to take a picture of Quinn on my lap (the cat is next to us but I reconsidered the temptation to get him in the shot too). Those individuals made our journey so seamless (unlike my duffel bag that morning), I can't believe I'd considered driving.

I must add that before she took our picture, the woman looked at me in horror when she thought Quinn had meowed. (I nearly fell over in hysterics when she asked me how she did that.)

My two travel companions were extremely relaxed and easy-going as well. Neither Quinn nor Carlos-kitty made a peep for most of the way. People had no idea either were on the flight. The only time Quinn did fuss was when I put some saline gel up her nose to help keep her from catching an airborne cold or flu.

It wasn't a pleasant feeling, which I say with some authority since I showed her I'd do it to myself before doing it to her. Only much much later (well after chatting the ear off a stewardess whose jump seat was next to mine at the back of the plane) did I realize that the stuff also has a tendency to bubble back out of your nose and hang there a bit like rubber cement. Cute on a baby, maybe. Definitely not cute on her mother.

So now we are back in Tennessee (swimming pool and all) awaiting Jack's return -- which is said to be tomorrow!

He's been underway since two days before I left for a total of five from Afghanistan. The jet-lag is sure to be brutal but I'm just thrilled to have him out of that country and soon in our own.

Pictures and more to come... but I'll try not to blather on so much (just got my internet connection hooked up today -- yay! I can function again!).

Happy travels near and far to all of you,
Mrs J and Her Traveling Circus