Arrived

Should I start at the beginning of my trip? I was up and ready for the shuttle at 4am. At 4:10, I got a call... my shuttle driver was stuck in a ditch in Alamo, but they had another driver who would go to Oakland airport with a passenger and then take me to SFO. They said it might be tight, but doable. I agreed. 40 minutes later, I am trying not to worry.... THEN amazingly, a driver showed and said he was going to take me directly to SFO. Great!!!!
Ride was smooth and check in was smooth, and then I go through the security and that is where I beeped. And I beeped and beeped again. I was told that I would have to undergo questions and scanning. I had to get personally wanded. Nothing beeped except my passport. I had to sit, stand, move this leg and the other, raise my arms and be patted.... morning exercises! Finally they realized that I was not a dire threat to security and let me go.

My flight to Newark was uneventful and I arrived early. I was waiting to get off the plane and to go meet Mary when I noticed I had two voice messages. They were from Mary. Her plane was delayed 2 hours. Well, she would still make the flight to Scotland, BUT then I had no backup or help with Dad through security. I think she planned this all along.

I kept the smile on my face and amusement in my space. At 4pm, my mother dropped off my father. The sad news is that his walking abilities have decreased tremendously since I last saw him in May. This was going to be a difficult trip. We stood in line for his first class boarding pass. YES, there was a line of over 25 people for International Business/First/Elite. As we stood in line, I ordered a wheelchair. It only took 2o minutes to get to us, but we had the best wheel chair driver in the world. He was from the West Indies which my dad noticed immediately and chatted with him about Cricket and soccer as the guy whisked us through the line.
BUT when I went through security... guess what?! I beeped and I beeped and the third time I had to stand in a glass box. After a few minute, I asked security what my sentence time in the box was. He wasn't amused. Apparently, they were waiting for a female security to wand me and pat me. GGRRRR.
Again, they couldn't find what was beeping and let me free. By that time, the wheel chair guy had my dad all set and my things all arranged on the table. i was putting on my bead bracelet and it broke... the beads going everywhere. I tried not to think about the fact that it was my good luck bracelet. I kept a smile and said it didn't matter. They did make me pick up every last bead in case someone fell on them. I still smiled.
The wheelchair guy was patient, luckily.... On a little hill towards our gate, he made the wheelchair go fast and said "beep beep" to people in the way making me and everyone else laugh. He said to me "humor is very important in life". I said "I am with you on that". Dad tipped him well.
Mary showed up 2 1/2 hours late needing a glass of wine. We sat at the wine bar which was conveniently located right near our gate and had a quick glass while Dad talked to everyone within earshot about anything they would listen to. My dad knows a lot about everything and is actually very informative if you are in the mood to listen.
We were able to convince them that he needed extra time walking down the jet way and we got on first.
Everyone boarded, the door closed, the engines started, we got on the jetway, and stopped. Then the engines cut and the pilot said that all east bound traffic has been stopped for an hour from Newark, Kennedy and LaGuardia. While Dad was being fed snacks and scotch, Mary and I got a little bag of pretzels and water. I still kept my humor.. it was easier with Mary behind me making comments about this and that.
Finally, the engines started and the pilot told us we were cleared to go... no other explanation.
The flight was bumpy and no one really settled in for a rest except the first class and the teenagers next to me who slept the entire time. Drinks are no longer free on international flights so I bought myself and Mary some white wine with dinner to make us sleep, then asked for another and was told they were out of white wine. What???
I watched two movies. (Vincent Price in House of Wax and Sean Connery in Diamonds are Forever. ) Mary watched two teenage flicks.
Two more notes:
I finally went to sleep and Mary woke me up hitting me... She said, "I just saw Dad walking by us, but he wouldn't talk". I told her she was hallucinating. She insisted and I told her to go to first class and check that he was in his seat. She did. The flight attendant had just put a blanket on him and he was snoring away. Then a man walked by us looking nothing like dad until his back was to us and then I knew who Mary had seen and was glad that she wasn't hallucinating.

Next: Landing.