Mama cannot be away from daughter for very long. They WILL have a reunion. That's the way God designed them. It's an umbilical cord thing that no man can possibly understand. Beware, gentlemen, the notion that you can ever match that kind of drawing power with one of your children. It is just not possible.
I let Debbie and Sarah arrange, plan, design, conceive, and give birth to this jaunt into the far reaches of New York, Connecticut, and Rhode Island. I stayed out of it. I was only there to provide a body large enough and strong enough to act as a buffer. I was their bodyguard as we roamed the streets, subways, tourist traps, shops, and restaurants of NYC and beyond. That's OK. Protection of my girls is what I do!
The flight to NYC was not uneventful.
American Eagle flies small, commuter jets into NYC from ATL. The planes hold less than a hundred passengers, and cut through the sky in about ninety minutes from runway to runway, Hartsfield to LaGuardia. With a plane this size, at least there are no long sections of 4-5 seats (like the old Lockheed L-1011). If you are traveling with someone, they are, thankfully, the only person you have to worry about as you squeeze into the tiny seats.
The granola bars and soft drinks they serve are adequate, and the view out the window is good -as with any jet plane. God has created a beautiful country in the United States of America. Seeing it from even 35,000 feet is a really good thing.
When we landed at LaGuardia, there was no gate available for the plane to dock with. We sat on the tarmac for a good long while. Then, when a gate finally did come available, the jet-way did not work. Another fifteen minutes on the plane. They finally rolled an external stairway over to the front door, and the stampede started.
I am convinced that the most impatient folks in the world can be found getting on and off airplanes.
One other thing about these smaller planes. They will not allow the standard sized carry-on, small suitcase to be brought aboard. You give that to the ramp monkeys on the jet-way. They call it "Valet Service." Once the flight is over, you wait on the jet-way until the "valet" brings your bag up the stairway to you. Forget leaving the plane quickly. You will be standing on the jet-way for several minutes.
It is all worth it, however, as you walk behind your wife into the terminal and see the face of your daughter as she connects with her mother for the first time in almost four months! It is like watching a happy ending to a movie starring the dearest people on earth to you! It doesn't matter if you are only a by-stander. The price of admission is worth every second.
Next, I will share with you the cab ride through Queens, down into one of the many tunnels that lead into Manhattan, and the feeling of finally being in the heart of NYC.
It is one hairy ride, indeed!
By the way...For the record...Neither Debbie nor I were "groped" by a single agent of the TSA at either airport. Shoot! I was expecting more of an exciting time going through security. At our age, something like that is more of a promise than a threat anyway. Maybe next time!
We did see one young lady get into an argument with a TSA supervisor in LaGuardia. She had three carry-on bags coming into the security line, and the limit is two. We saw her later. The TSA agent won the battle, evidently, because she only had two bags with her at the gate!
The "friendly skies" weren't so friendly on that cold morning.
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