Traveling With George

     A you read this, consider the fact that I am now 1500 miles north of my usual home in South Florida. We flew up yesterday to Chicago to visit my sister. Diana is undergoing surgery on Wed for a leg tumor that is cancerous. We are hoping all will be well with her and came up to be with her for the week.

     I have to say, I don't know how regular travelers do it all the time. By the time I got all the reservations made, I was almost too exhausted to travel. It has been a while since we've flown. We got through the body search (I was wondering what they were imagining on seeing titanium rods in my back!) and headed for the gate. Using a shoehorn, the stewardess spring-loaded us into our seats, which were so close together, we had to take turns to buckle our seatbelts. I had brought a variety of things to do on the plane but with the cramped space allotted to me, I decided to forgo reading or computer work in favor of breathing and sitting. 

     Finally, I decided to ask George to get my book out of the carry-on bag. This bag was chock-full of everything we thought we would need on the plane. George gave me what he was holding on his lap and started to search through the disorganized bag. Twenty minutes passed and  he had still not found it. I told him to give up. He did, gratefully. Stuffed like sardines, we just sat in our seats and waited to land. It was all we could do.

     But land we did. We were there. All we had to do now was get our luggage (easily accomplished) and grab a shuttle to our car rental area. We stood outside. Damn. It was colder in Illinois and we were  not prepared. We stood on the curb with a bunch of other people all awaiting our rental shuttles. Avis....Budget...Hertz...National...Dollar...No one was getting on. Could it be that all these people were waiting for our rental shuttle? I was determined. No one was going to edge me off this shuttle. I stepped forward determinedly, pushing past the elderly couple that had barged in ahead of me. I used my suitcase as a wedge against them moving up again.

     At last, 20 minutes having gone by, our shuttle appeared. We moved forward en masse, like a sea of stranded travelers moving with the tide. We all managed to get on, the final leg of our travels behind us. Little did we know that there were more adventures to come!