Hangover from the layover

I will get to the "hangover" part of the title in a future post...yeah, I had a little fun in Vegas!

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With the sun shining so beautifully here along the Eastern Seaboard today, one would never guess that all flights back were at a complete standstill twelve hours ago.

Flying with children is An Experience. My children are good travelers. They don't require being hooked-up to various technological appliances (yet!), they are both quite content with their magic pens and crayons and, when threatened with their lives to never kick the seat in front of them, they actually obey. No spills, no tears, no throwing up. The transportation part of the trip worked out great...

...until we hit Chicago yesterday.

What was supposed to have been a 20 minute stay-on-the-plane, let-other-passengers-off-then-continue-on flight turned into a plane swap and a six hour delay due to severe storms and tornado warnings here.

So we had to wait. And wait. And wait. We did not know how long we were waiting, we just had to keep waiting for updates as to how much longer we would have to, well, wait.

Mama Llama traveling with two young monkeys dictates that nobody can potty by themselves; all the bags and everything must be picked up and dragged with when someone feels need, unless some very nice person notices the plight and offers assistance to watch bags while Mama Llama gets children, in timely fashion, to the nearest women's bathroom (always the one with long lines).

The oldest of six children, a recent high school graduate and whose family had also boarded in Las Vegas with us, came to the rescue, and thus a beautiful short-term acquaintanceship was born. My children adored those children, all quite mature for their ages due to having lost their father to cancer two years ago. They all played so well and made the two hour--no, wait, four--no, again delayed--six hour wait in Chicago so pleasant and bearable.

As we waited in line at the only gate open at 1 a.m. at this Major International Airport for the plane in front of us to deboard, unload luggage, reboard and leave, my children fell fast asleep and, with the carryons being all we had packed for this trip, this lovely family came yet again to my rescue in helping me rouse my children and get them and our bags into the terminal and out the door.

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It is funny, I have so many times been on the assisting end and have never thought twice about helping out or at the very least offering aid to a fellow traveler whenever seeing need. It is almost a natural reflex; we are in the exact same position and with the exact same goal. However, to be on the receiving end of such grace and kindness created in me the understanding of how incredibly helpful such small gestures can be and the great thankfulness felt on the part of those being assisted.

Most importantly to remember, the gift of giving truly is a full circle.