Mayhem
06/23/2022

Today starts a weeklong visit with my oldest son and his growing family. His wife used to be good friends with my daughter, Brandi when they were growing up, and there was more than one occasion when I could imagine Adam hooking up with Roxanne, his wife’s, older sister, as they were closer in age. Well, a lot has passed since those days so imagine my surprise when Adam started mentioning the name Elizabeth, in a way that suggested that I knew her. It was not long before she was mentioned in all our conversations, so I asked about her and he must have seen the look on my face when he told me her parents were a former Pastor and his wife, who served with me on the Praise and Worship Team. He added the fact that she now lived in Roswell, Georgia, interesting since they first met in Roswell, New Mexico. They were perfect for each other and soon they were married AND EXPECTING! (Insert smooshy love bits) They paid for me to visit them for Father’s Day and meet the other kids in the family, Pepper and Killian, of whom I have heard nothing but good things. I had been writing a blog of short stories for my sister’s website and this was the perfect opportunity to expand my audience, or was it?
Shortly after planning the trip, my wife and I caught the Covid bug, and we were forced to change the dates. My flight was to leave Lubbock at 6am, which meant going to bed early to leave at 1 am. Adam reminded me to remember the time change between New Mexico and Texas and it brought back unpleasant memories of my forgetting to account for the change, in both directions! This time we were tired from working long hours and afraid to fall asleep and miss this wonderful opportunity. I was foggy enough to give them the wrong time we needed to leave, and Carl, our youngest son, decided he would get gas by himself and pick us up on the way out. He returned 30 minutes later to say none of the stations were open and he needed my card to pay at the pump. Now I was starting to get anxious, any more delays would make it tough to get to the airport. When we got to the turnoff for L:ubbock, the GPS said we would get there with 40 minutes to check in. It was correct, I grabbed my luggage and went inside. Then I lost my mind. Instead of checking in at the Southwest Airlines counter, I went directly to the security checkpoint, got in the wrong line, and wasted another five minutes before finding out I was in the line for pre-checked passengers. I glanced at the regular line and I’m thinking, there is no way I will make my flight if I have to get through this line. A man in the line had been observing me the whole time and kindly let me cut in front of him and his wife. Unfortunately, I found out when I got to the front of the line, that I needed my boarding passes from Southwest. Ready to scream, I raced back to the ticket counter and was able to see a clerk right away. I had less than five minutes to get to the gate and took off running. I was still 50 yards from the gate and heard them give the final call for my flight. I waved my arms wildly and yelled for them to hold the plane. I made it with five seconds to spare, out of breath and sweating profusely. It was open seating, and the plane was not full, so I was able to find an empty row and collapsed into the middle seat after putting my carry-on in the overhead storage. I tried to take a nap after takeoff because I was facing a 3-hour layover in St Louis but I was full of adrenaline and it was only an hour long flight. We landed in Austin and were instructed to remain in our seats until departing passengers got off. Afterwards we were allowed to change seats and I found a window seat and settled in for the flight. More passengers were boarding but there were plenty of empty seats and no one else sat in my row. I ordered black coffee and paid for internet services. It was a waste of eight dollars because I fell asleep before I could figure out how to use it. Two hours later the airline attendant woke me up to collect my trash and have me fasten my seatbelt, as we were starting to descend for landing. The St Louis airport was busier than Austin, but I managed to find my gate and saw that the layover was only going to be an hour and a half. I wanted to smoke a cigarette, but I was not about to risk going through the security checkpoint again. I found a charging station for my electronics and spent the time people watching. It was only a short while later that they started boarding passengers. The flight was booked to capacity, and I was in the last group called. Entering the plane, I saw that there were no window or aisle seats available, so I took the first middle seat that I saw. I was between a heavyset woman and a grandmother traveling with her two-year-old granddaughter. Somehow, I was able to fall asleep with only minor interruptions when the toddler needed the restroom and when she squirmed, trying to find a comfortable position on her grandma’s lap. When we landed in Atlanta, there was another delay because the landing ramp was not functioning at our assigned gate, and we were directed to another one. The Atlanta airport is huge, and the signs were confusing. I walked across the entire concourse before finding a charging station for my phone. I called my son Adam, who was picking me up, and found out he was delayed by traffic and was still forty minutes away. It took another two hours before we made it to his home, because it was now rush hour, and the traffic moved at a snail’s pace. I was approaching twenty-four hours without sleep but the excitement of getting to hold my new grandbaby for the first time energized me and I jumped out of the car when we got there, gave my daughter-in-law a quick hug, and grabbed the baby. All the bad memories of the trip faded away as I held Dallas Mayhem Broomfield for the first time. It was well worth the trip.

We will return to our regularly scheduled program next week. Feel free to write us about your travelling experiences, good or bad.

See you then.
Barron M Broomfield