One Girl and a Big World

Dear reader,

I hope you enjoyed your Christmas and New Year, where ever you may be in the world. The next blog lined up will once again star my grandmother, so hang on for the ride!

This story takes place a mere three months ago in the Raleigh airport. The characters in this story are my grandmother, my dad, my mom, and I. Our destination from the airport was going to be Dublin, Ireland so I could start my first semester at Trinity College Dublin.

To begin my story, we must start a few hours back to 2pm Eastern Standard Time. I was in the parking lot of a Virginia Food Lion saying bye to two of my best friends. I had already been cutting it close. My mom wanted to leave our town at 3pm where we would then drive to Raleigh, North Carolina to catch the flight to Reykjavik, Iceland, then Dublin. After a sad goodbye I drove home and began loading my two pieces of luggage into my dad’s car. Once my mom was home from work, the four of us climbed into the car and drove an hour and 45 minutes to Raleigh.

Arriving much earlier than planned, we had three hours before our flight. My mom really wanted to eat at the Cheesecake Factory. I seconded the motion and after some grumbling, my dad agreed to eat at the Cheesecake Factory. We all had a quick dinner, most of us saving our leftovers for the flight. We arrived to the airport two hours before our departure. It was at this moment that time seemed to slip away.

My dad dropped my grandma, mom, and I off at the terminal then proceeded to find a parking spot in the airport parking lots. For some reason, that day we had our flight was the day that no parking spot was available. It took my dad 45 minutes to find a parking spot and make his way over to the terminal. This whole time, the rest of us had to wait for my dad before going through security, so we were just waiting for him in the lobby. I took the time to call my best friends.

When my dad finally arrived, my mom and I got in the line for security, while my dad and his mom had TSA pre-check and went in the much shorter line. Now, security at Raleigh is rather long. My mom and I were easily stuck in security for thirty minutes. When we finally made it out of security, my dad was waiting for us on a bench, but my grandma was nowhere in sight.

I do not think much of it as I was too busy making sure I had all my stuff. Once my mom had gathered her stuff, my dad looked at the time and realized that my grandma had been gone for over ten minutes. I asked my dad where she had gone and he replied that she had gone to the bathroom. Now, this is typically a normal situation, except for the fact that my grandma easily gets lost. And because she gets lost, one would typically be comforted in the fact that we could just call her… except that she had left ALL her belongings with my dad: phone, wallet, passport, bag, EVERYTHING.

Now nervous, my dad told me to go into the women’s bathroom and see if I could find her. I first checked the one closest to security and did not find her. I ran out, told my dad I would check the other bathroom, and took of sprinting. She was not in the second bathroom either. Now everyone was nervous. Boarding was supposed to begin in a few minutes and my grandmother was nowhere to be seen.

This is the moment in your life when your heart starts pumping, the adrenaline begins rushing through your body and the brain jumps into problem solving mode. I was looking around the airport frantically when it hit me. I ran over to my dad and said, ” Dad, I think she left the airport!” Both my parents look at me and realize that what I had said was most likely true and both their faces take on a look of horror.

My mom looks at me and tells me to run to the gate where our plane was stationed and tells my dad to exit the airport. Because both my dad and grandmother have TSA pre-check, it would be much quicker for them to once again pass through security. I take off running towards the gate and call a friend as I wait. To my relief, I find that the plane departure has been delayed thirty minutes. At least now I know I won’t have to get on the plane by myself. About ten minutes after I had arrived to the gate, my grandmother and mom walk up to the gate and I breathe a HUGE sigh of relief.

My mom explains that she had in fact exited the airport because my grandmother had followed someone to the bathroom (outside the security section). A couple minutes later, my dad walks up to the gate all flustered and visibly annoyed. In his defense, we had not even left the States and we had already experienced a travel scare. As he puts his stuff down with us, my dad pulls out a pack of AirTags, shakes his head, and says, “I’m not going through this again.”

Out of sheer adrenaline spikes and nerves, my mom and I begin laughing our heads off. We had survived another travel mishap and it all worked out because the plane was delayed. So once again dear reader, although you will experience inconveniences or derailings while traveling, make sure you laugh about it. You will create a lifelong memory out of it.

Once the excitement had subsided, we boarded the plane and within a few hours I found myself in Ireland, and so a new adventure began. Although that day was filled with sadness and some unwarranted stress, the overnight flight to Ireland allowed me to see a sky full of beautiful stars while flying over the Atlantic. I even saw a shooting star, but did not have to make a wish for by God’s grace my wish had already come true.