Well, I had a moment... or actually a day where God stopped me in my tracks and made me see a HUGE blessing that I know was from Him.
The morning that Boone and I were to leave St. Louis started out with some difficulty. We ran into some difficulty with the airline that hadn't been a problem leaving Calgary, but once we were through the ticketing counter and said our tearful goodbyes to my mom and brother, Boone and I were hours away from being back with Jeff (and hopefully regaining some normalcy of sleep!) I was one of the last people to board in St. Louis so I watched as all the passengers eyes quickly looked away as I walked down the aisle. I could tell everyone was hoping we were NOT seated next to them. When I reached my assigned aisle, I jokingly said to the twenty-something guy and older woman "Congratulations, you are the lucky winners! We are in your row!" They both smiled and quickly got up so I could climb into my window seat! As the young guy was helping me stow my carry on, the older woman smiled and said to me "It's ok dear, I'm on my way to Canada to visit my grandchildren, so this is just early practice for me!" "Canada??" I thought to myself. And I quickly asked her "Where in Canada?"
Without missing a beat, she said "Calgary!" No way.... God is so good! I quickly explained to her as I sat down and got buckled in that Boone and I were traveling to Calgary as well that day. Now, I have to explain: This is such a God thing. How many people are randomly traveling from St. Louis to Calgary on a random Tuesday in April. It's not prime ski season or Stampede time... just a random Tuesday. PLUS, we were connecting through Dallas. Not exactly on your way to Canada. And this sweet woman was seated right next to me. On a huge flight. I mean, what are the odds??? God is so so so good.
For the next hour and a half, the woman sweetly asked the young man on the other side of her, and myself all kinds of questions about us, our families, all kinds of things. She was just so nice and talkative and helped the flight fly by (whoa... didn't even mean that pun!) Turns out the man in our row had a little 18-month old girl, so he knew the drill with babies. He was so understanding and kind as well.
Once we got to Dallas, the woman, who I by this point knew as Marilyn insisted on holding Boone and then wheeling my carry-on bag for me.
"We can just travel together! I hate traveling by myself anyway," she said. We chatted on the tram and as we walked to our gate. Once we reached our next gate, she offered to bring me lunch and I watched her bag for her as she went and grabbed lunch. When she returned she had brought me some snacks because she just wanted to make sure I had enough to eat. We continued to talk and I learned that she was a believer, who had been divorced several years ago, but had met her current husband in a divorce recovery ministry at a local church. We talked about our faith and she encouraged me so much as a young wife and mother.
Once we got on our flight, we got the awful news that we would be indefinitely delayed due to a computer glitch that was all throughout American Airlines. But somehow, even after getting that news, the two hours that we sat on the grounded flight went by without much struggle with Boone. Marilyn checked on us several times and Boone mainly sat in my lap and looked out the window. And let's be honest, I'd rather be stuck on the ground indefinitely than be up in the air if the pilot doesn't have all the possibly information he needs to fly the plane safely to our destination.
Once we landed in Calgary, Marilyn and I had a fast goodbye as her daughter-in-law was waiting for her outside and I was still trying to round up all my luggage. I so wish I had asked her for an email or any contact info, but unfortunately we didn't think to exchange info. So, she will forever be remembered by me as my guardian angel that day. And I'm so very thankful for her.
Phew... that was wordy, but I just had to get that story down in the blog because it is such a special memory! And I'll throw in a picture... not of Marilyn (although I would have loved to ask her if I could take one of her if I hadn't thought that might be awkward!), but Boone the day after we got back!
Cheers!
Emily, Jeff + Boone
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