Flying out to see Grandma by herself was a whole different story.
Chris was working in Ft. Collins for the day and wouldn't be able to come to the airport with us. Kristen and I stopped to get gas before leaving for the airport. While at the gas station, I had the thought, "Do I need some kind of ID for Kristen, like a birth certificate or passport?" I asked Kristen to text Chris while I filled up with gas. We totally misinterpreted each other with Kristen reading the texts to me. Chris said that maybe a birth certificate would be good and that I could find a copy of hers on Dropbox. He meant that I could just show the electronic copy at the airport. I thought he meant that I should have a paper copy to show. We went home to make a copy. That moment was our first strike in making us late.
We got to the airport, and I chose the wrong parking lot. Strike two. I had to exit and go around again to the garage. Once in the garage, there was no parking to be found. Literally none. I finally found a lady leaving the airport and asked her where her car was so that I could follow her. She wasn't too far. I had to stop to watch for cross traffic and an old man turned in front of me. Strike three. The lady I was following told him that I was waiting for her spot. He wouldn't budge. I honked. Kristen cried. I honked. He took my spot. I said some not so nice stuff to him. We found another parking spot, but by then I knew we were on the edge time wise.
We raced to check-in and the lady at the Southwest counter, Kandle, wouldn't let us even try for the flight at 3:45. It was 3 pm. The next flight was at 7:30 pm. Ughhh. So with calls to Chris and to his mom and then to his sister, we caught Grandma in time before she left on the ferry. The last ferry returned to Grandma's home on Anderson Island around 7:30 pm, so there was no way Kristen was going to make that one. If Linda (Grandma) came to get Kristen, she would either have to stay at a hotel with Kristen for the night or stay with her daughter Lori in Renton. The other option was to have Lori pick Kristen up and keep her for the night. What a mess, but we got it all fixed up so that Lori was on Kristen's ticket as one who could pick her up, and Lori graciously agreed to pick up Kristen at the airport.
Kristen was near tears and then so totally grateful that I would wait at the airport with her for so long. So long became longer as her 7:30 flight was delayed until 7:55 and then 8:25. We walked around the airport, checked out some of the shops, chatted with Amy and Misha at EFY, had dinner, and watched "Back to the Future" on my phone. I hoped it would last as the battery depleted throughout the day. Kristen had her iPod but her charger was in her suitcase, and I wanted her to keep it for the flight.
I had to laugh at Kristen as I sat looking at my phone. She suddenly said, "Let's play the 'red car blue car game'." I hadn't been paying close attention until I looked up when she said, "I choose blue." Funny girl.
What a day. She was finally able to board around 8 pm. Rod, one of the Southwest employees, waited patiently as Kristen hugged me while crying and saying goodbye. She finally took a deep breath and headed down the walkway to board.
I walked over to the window to check if her plane would have wifi. Yes it did, and as I turned around, the gate agent looked at me and said, "She's coming back, Mom." What? The flight attendant walked back with her and said "She's got some time and would like to spend it with you." So I held Kristen in my arms and prayed with her as she cried. A cute girl waiting to pre-board came over to us and said, "I'm sure she'll be fine." I smiled and thanked her.
Rod came back with this cute little stuffed dog and said, "Something tells me you'd like to fly with this." So thoughtful. The stuffie had a zipper down its tummy that turned it inside out to be a pillow. The employees let Kristen stay with me until the last person boarded and then she walked away from me again, turning every 30 seconds to wave. Ahh sweet girl, you are so brave.
I finally left after her plane was in the air.
Lori was at the airport early to check in to pick up Kristen. Again thank you. They got back to her house around midnight our time. Have fun with cousins and Grandma.