The Weekend That Almost Wasn't

Have you ever done something so stupid that you couldn't believe you actually did it? Well...I had this experience this past week. On Friday, I was supposed to fly out to Dallas to see my family. So naturally, on Thursday afternoon, I decided I better print out my ticket. Well, when I typed in the record number, it said the flight was cancelled. You can imagine what I was probably doing...FREAKING OUT, right? So, I called up the airlines to see what was up. Well, the lady on the phone very kindly told me (after looking up my ticket) that the reason it was cancelled was because that flight had left THAT MORNING...I had booked a ticket for the 24th, not the 25th!!! HOW COULD I HAVE DONE THIS???

I tried to be calm and explain to the woman over the phone that my brother had leave for the weekend, and that I was going to Dallas to say goodbye to him before he is deployed next week. She was very nice and told me that all she could do was reschedule my return flight and note in the computer that I had called. She then told me that I needed to go to the airport that night and plead my case to the agent in baggage claim (since the main ticket counter would be closed for the night) and hope that he or she felt like putting me on the stand by list for the flight the next morning. Then I'd need to be at the airport by 5 a.m. the next morning (the flight was at 6) and hope I got a seat. I was really freaking out by now...still in shock that I had booked the wrong flight...but I got off the phone and waited for Shane to get home from work so that I could head out for the airport.

I got to the airport and waited for a flight to come in...so that an agent would be at the baggage claim office. I kept seeing very grouchy people coming down the steps and kept praying they weren't the ones I'd have to plead my case to. Finally, a lady...who didn't look grouchy...opened the office. I walked in and tried to explain to her my situation (it's a very hard thing to explain that you are a moron and can't read the date on your itinerary that you have printed in front of you and have looked at all week to make sure you knew what time your plane left, but never noticed the date) trying to get her sympathy. She said that she would look and see what she could do. I told her that the agent on the phone had said that the flight wasn't booked and that she had the power to get me on the standby list. While she was looking it up, I decided to tell her why this trip was so important to me. I told her about Donny leaving next week and she stopped and looked me. Then she told me that she was just going to book me on the flight...with a seat and everything...no standby!!! She asked me to thank him for what he is doing for our country. At that moment...yes...the big huge tears began to flow!!! It is so nice to know that there are still people out there who are just plain NICE! So thank you Sue at American Airlines...if not for you, my weekend never would have happened!

I got on my flight on Friday morning as if nothing had happened (yes, as if I wasn't a total idiot who missed my flight the previous day with out knowing it) and the first thing I noticed was that they made a public announcement that anyone who was active military could board whenever they wanted. Then, the first thing the stewardess said when we got on the plane, before the whole safety speech, was thank you to all of our military on the flight and everyone started clapping. Maybe I'm just more sensitive to it now, but I haven't noticed anyone being behind our troops like this in a very long time. (Other than at Sea World during the Shamu show.) That is one of the things I really miss about being in the military scene all the time. It just seems like everyone has forgotten and is just going on with their every day lives while these men and women are off defending our freedom.

After I got picked up at the airport, we went to IHOP for breakfast. The server asked us if we were there for a special occasion...I think because there were so many of us (Donny, Mom, Kari and her kids, and myself). We told her that Donny was leaving next week and when it came time to leave, she told us that his breakfast had been on the house.

We had a great weekend! I was pretty much Donny's shadow. We went to the mall to pick up all the last minute things he needed...again, when people found out that he was deploying next week, they were so appreciative of him and they just wanted to shake his hand! We went to our nephew's baseball game and to our niece's volleyball game. We hot tubed and we played A LOT of Guitar Hero! For those of you who know Donny...he loves video games. I figured that since the whole reason I went home this weekend was to be with him, if he was playing a video game at every spare moment, that it was ok if I did it too!

Dad and his brother, Uncle Randy even played Guitar Hero with us!

It was very hard to say goodbye to him this morning. Donny and I have finally become friends over the past few years (as opposed to just brother and sister) and it is very hard to see him go. Don't get me wrong...I know that many families are in the same boat as I am. I have lots of friends who have loved ones that have been in Iraq or Afghanistan...or who have gone over themselves. But with my little brother it is different. He's my baby brother...it just hits home and that's all there is to it.

Donny is very excited to be serving our country. He is in a great unit with a great group of guys. While he can't really talk about what he will be doing over the next 10 months, he has promised to keep in touch! He deploys sometime next week. He will be in Afghanistan...but that's all we know. For those of you reading this, please keep not only him, but all of our troops in your thoughts and prayers. I know that not everyone supports the war, but regardless, everyone can support our troops. They are, after all, over there for you and I!