Back at Laguardia on Wednesday morning, I drug my feet all the way through check in. Heightened security, following the Boston bombing, made me feel even more restless and uneasy. I didn't want to leave- I already missed my brother and the brunch we should be having. We boarded the plane, late, then sat on the runway forever. We were nearly 45 minutes late taking off for Denver. I knew that my connection in Denver was going to be very tight. I had no phone, I hoped it would go well...
In Denver I raced off the plane to find that my flight was, not delayed, but cancelled altogether. Snow and fog and ice had covered the Mile High city in chaos. The line for customer service was wrapped around the United terminal. As I stood in line peace washed over me- or was it shock? Either way, I was in a good mood. There was absolutely nothing that I, nor any of these people can do to change the raging snowstorm outside. Panic and rudeness fixes nothing. The girl in line ahead of me offered to let me use her phone. That be GREAT! Except, I don't know anyone's number, not even my children's. It seems that this girl also has and on-again-off-again relationship with Google, she offered to let me consult him for a phone number. I looked up the salon and called the girls. Perfect! Except that I got the voice mail...
Eventually, my salon girl called me on my new friend's phone, and helped me get in touch with my ride. The customer service people were able to get me on a flight out that night; I wouldn't have to sleep at the airport. Once I landed, I waited for my 45,000 pounds of luggage for what seemed like months. It became sickeningly obvious, my luggage wasn't coming.
Whatever.
I got home, before midnight, to discover that the boiler in my house had gone out while I was gone. The interior of my house was a horrifying 46 degrees. Still, I didn't let it shake me. I heated a rice bag and gratefully welcomed my stinkin' cat in my bed with me. We survived the night.
The morning was rude... I was cold! The hot shower was great, but by the time I combed through my wet hair my hands were tingling and frozen. Additionally, I had no phone. I had no way of calling or receiving calls from clients. The luggage was who-knows-where and I was at the mercy borrowed phones and a friend to figure out a boiler guy for me. Everything else had to wait, I had a ten hour day, with no breaks, to get to. (My boss sucks, btw...)
Friends rallied. One brought an old phone that, get this, pretty much only made phone calls. It wasn't even update-able with my contacts, so it was a fun little game of "Guess Who" when it rang. Welcome back to the dark ages! Still, I was soooo appreciative to have great friends, and communication and patient clients...
Another friend found a friend-of-a-friend to agree to come over after work to look at the little heat issue. He would come around 8:00 p.m. When I got home from work I found that my house plants had been frozen and were dying a horrible death on my counter. Still, I tried to smile and look for the good news. Who needs flowers? It was actually noticeably warmer outside, than inside. The good news here is that I have excellent insulation.
By 9:00 the bad news was available for consumption: there would be no heat again tonight. The parts store would open in the morning and the boiler guy would come here first. I briefly considered setting up a tent outside, I think it was about four degrees less cold outside, than inside...Wait, I don't own a tent. That second night trying to sleep in the low forties about caused me to crack.
On day two of the Great Freeze of April 2013, I left the door unlocked to let the friend, of a friend, of a friend in on his own. I was pretty confident that I had nothing worth stealing- if he was that kind of guy. (It turns out he wasn't that kind of guy.) Yesssssss! I returned, after another 10 hour day, to 66 degrees! Oh, aaaaaand, my luggage would be delivered sometime before midnight...
Aside from the fact that the stupid boiler went out again the next day (a different control box needs replacing this time and I have yet to get it done- we're crossing our fingers that it's really spring here now...) and the phone I had would be $800 to replace, and the older, much smaller, used version with glitches would still be $250- the weekend conversations, thoughts and wrestling emotions reinforced the theme that has been building in me for this whole year:
Relationships are the ONLY thing that really matters in this life.
My friends, the ones that are in the mire slogging through it all with me, are invaluable. Boilers, phones and luggage are not.
My brother- our time together building memories and having conversations of depth and the working out of the differences in our personalities and perspectives- even without the beautiful pictures to prove it- will forever be engraved in my mind, soul and spirit.
The brief encounters with people at the airport, the sausage bar, the comedy club, the subway platforms, the streets and the homes, really do impact me. I am changed, ever-so-slightly, by each of those moments. People matter- especially the ones that are different than me.
Friends rallied. One brought an old phone that, get this, pretty much only made phone calls. It wasn't even update-able with my contacts, so it was a fun little game of "Guess Who" when it rang. Welcome back to the dark ages! Still, I was soooo appreciative to have great friends, and communication and patient clients...
Another friend found a friend-of-a-friend to agree to come over after work to look at the little heat issue. He would come around 8:00 p.m. When I got home from work I found that my house plants had been frozen and were dying a horrible death on my counter. Still, I tried to smile and look for the good news. Who needs flowers? It was actually noticeably warmer outside, than inside. The good news here is that I have excellent insulation.
By 9:00 the bad news was available for consumption: there would be no heat again tonight. The parts store would open in the morning and the boiler guy would come here first. I briefly considered setting up a tent outside, I think it was about four degrees less cold outside, than inside...Wait, I don't own a tent. That second night trying to sleep in the low forties about caused me to crack.
On day two of the Great Freeze of April 2013, I left the door unlocked to let the friend, of a friend, of a friend in on his own. I was pretty confident that I had nothing worth stealing- if he was that kind of guy. (It turns out he wasn't that kind of guy.) Yesssssss! I returned, after another 10 hour day, to 66 degrees! Oh, aaaaaand, my luggage would be delivered sometime before midnight...
Aside from the fact that the stupid boiler went out again the next day (a different control box needs replacing this time and I have yet to get it done- we're crossing our fingers that it's really spring here now...) and the phone I had would be $800 to replace, and the older, much smaller, used version with glitches would still be $250- the weekend conversations, thoughts and wrestling emotions reinforced the theme that has been building in me for this whole year:
Relationships are the ONLY thing that really matters in this life.
My friends, the ones that are in the mire slogging through it all with me, are invaluable. Boilers, phones and luggage are not.
My brother- our time together building memories and having conversations of depth and the working out of the differences in our personalities and perspectives- even without the beautiful pictures to prove it- will forever be engraved in my mind, soul and spirit.
The brief encounters with people at the airport, the sausage bar, the comedy club, the subway platforms, the streets and the homes, really do impact me. I am changed, ever-so-slightly, by each of those moments. People matter- especially the ones that are different than me.
In closing this little chapter of life I will share a bit of today:
A beautiful acquaintance of mine found out, just hours ago, that her hero daddy likely will only have 2-4 weeks of inhaling and exhaling the sweet aroma of this life. The lump has returned to my own chest. I remember what "Diagnosis Day" feels like. It has been so easy to pretend October never happened. Tonight, whether it's two hours or two decades we have together, I pray I focus on the priceless and let the merely expensive blur just a bit.
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