My2ROOTS

So, when I was in college I remember hearing this song by Ani Defranco called “the Arrivals gate” (yeah I went through a phase where I dated alot of hippy/grungey/sexual curious chicks in the early 90′s). It was a song about the reaction people have when then see a loved one at the arrivals gate at an Airport, like a little boys who sees grandma coming off the airplane, a husband who see’s a wife after a long time, or parents who see’s a child come back from camp.

Besides the song having a good little acoustic beat, I never really gave it much thought until this weekend when my wife and daughter came to see me in Washington DC this weekend. It was supposed to be the first weekend that I have seen my family since I left Wisco about 3 weeks ago. Kristen and Reese were on a 8:45 flight that was due in to DC at 10:45, boy was I excited. Can you imagine, Lane, Kristen and Reese on the Chocolate City! “Hey Michelle, Can Sasha and Malia come out and play”? All the monuments, all the museums, all the culture, all the restaurants, yaHoooWee!!! IT will be Wonderful.

So, the only problem was that mother nature didn’t give a RAT’s AZZ about what I wanted. At 9am on Saturday morning it’s started snowing, I mean really snowing for the area. 1 inch, 2 inch, and 3 inch’s all before noon. I was at the airport awaiting the arrivals of my girls, and I saw the parade of snow plows enter the runway at Washington National Airport which signaled the closing of the runway. Then, there it appeared out of the blowing snow. A beautiful Midwest Airlines ERJ-170, surly this was the plane from Milwaukee, Kristen and Reese will be coming off soon and we will start our fun little day together.

I wait, wait and wait, still no Reese and Kristen. WTF- I go ask the girl at the ticket counter what the status was because it has been removed from the arriving flight monitor and I saw it pull into the gate. She said, sorry but that plane was from Omaha and that the Milwaukee plane is circling the airport waiting for the runway to open and land, I say reluctantly “OK”. I wait and wait and wait, still nothing. I see planes landing, one after the other, again and again, but no Midwest Flight # 1620.

Finally, I get a text message from Kristen saying she’s in Pittsburgh because the Aircraft diverted due to lack of fuel and the bad weather. Routine procedure for airlines, but does nothing for my effort to see my girls. After a long decision making process by Midwest, the plane she was on is going to head back to Milwaukee and not to Washington DC. She has a choice, get back on the Midwest flight back to Milwaukee or take a chance and stand-by for a US Airways flight to Washington DC. She asks what she should do, I says do the smart move with Reese and go back to Milwaukee and don’t’ risk getting stranded in Pittsburgh. It was really the only logical decision to make. Yes, It torn me up, but If you have ever taken a 2 yr. old anywhere you know what I mean. After shedding a tear or two because it was going to be at least another 3 weeks before I see them, I came to terms with the decision and realized it was for the best.

After getting on the plane to go back to Milwaukee, Reese immediately fell fast asleep in her moms arms. Must have been the emotion of the day because I could have fallen asleep also. Upon returning to Milwaukee and exiting the aircraft, the gate agent at the gate next door saw a sad faced Kristen and asked “is everything OK”? Kristen explained the story to her and her disappointment of not making it to Washington DC. The Gate agent smiled and said “do you want to get on this flight going to DC instead”? She thought, Really, I can still make it to
DC. She called me and told me of the unique opportunity. I was cautious, but I really wanted to see them and I finally agreed and hoped for the best. They made the flight grabbing the last two seats on the flight to DC.

90 minutes later, I get a text from Kristen that the plane landed in DC safely. As I stood there waiting for my girls to round the 40′s era art decco styled, shale covered, historic walls of long Terminal A exit hallway. I thought to myself, HOLY COW I’m going to see my family for the first time in 3 weeks, why am I welling up and about to cry like a little bitch. It’s only been a couple of weeks, what is my problem? And then I thought about the song and remembered why It left such an memorable mark on my mind. And then I see them, I yell “Reese!” and she screams back “Daddy, MY Daddy!” and started running at me with reckless abandon. The attached scarf on her jacket sailed through the air as if she had wings, her bouncy little strides seamed in slow motion as I could only wait for her to get to me. I tried to be strong, but I couldn’t hold the emotion back anymore. Reese smacked into me with all her little force and I wrapped my arms around her as tight as I could and I started to tear. Trying to be tough, so the other passengers wouldn’t think I was a big, black puddle of wussy jelly; I hugged and kissed Kristen and whipped my tears away simultaneously trying to smooth.

I was the happiest man on earth. The weather was so bad that we only got to play in the freezing ass hotel pool, hang the hotel room and spent about 2 hrs trying to walk around snow covered Washington DC for a couple of quick photo’s of the White House. I didn’t care, I was in my own personal Zen garden and I was fortunate enough to have my moment at the DCA, Terminal A arrival gate.

LM