Trip to New Jersey April 20-23, 2012

 It was a miracle trip.  We were supposed to be at my father’s death bed, saying our final goodbyes.  But the day before our arrival, his non-stop bleeding that had afflicted him for over a year stopped completely.  It was so unreal to see him wolfing down a turkey sandwich at the mall food court talking our ears off with  stories of his old heroic adventures that I’ve heard thousands of times. I forgive him.  He is alive.  That makes him a hero of the day.  To celebrate, we bought a new getup for him – a new shirt, a new tie, suit, and even a pair of new suspenders!

Dad being well, Peter, my husband, and I could relax and enjoy the trip.  At Englishtown Auction,  following  instructions from my husband, a native of this town, and with cash in hand, I haggled with merchants and snagged some good bargains. Two beautiful hats for 5 dollars!  One for mom and one for me.

Driving along the New Jersey shore, we explored the oceanfront towns.  They were lovely with well developed parks, streets lined with tall green trees, cozy little mom and pop stores, and train stations, all flanked by the magnificent Atlantic Ocean. It was cold and raining when I faced the grey ocean under the dark sky.  But, I could visualize the pretty greens and blues that would be revealed in no time.

The people who live on the Jersey shore, especially those with boats, are already living in heaven.  And, they can even go to the New York area so easily.

What’s up with New Jersey jokes?   NJ feels like heaven to me.  While we were having a great time, we were stopped by an undercover policeman for speeding.  But then, the officer let us go with just a warning!

Returning home, we got bad news at the airport that our flight would be delayed because of bad weather and we may miss the connecting flight which means we would not be able to make it home until the next day.  That would throw off our entire week!    So we decided to  rent a car and drive the three hours to get home.

Then, came the good news.  They  were holding our plane to Austin at Houston!  So, as soon as we got off the plane, we ran to the gate where our plane was supposed to be waiting for us.  But the gate was deserted! We panicked!  Then we heard a voice from behind us calling out our names.  “Go right ahead.  They are waiting for you guys.”  So, we hurried down the corridor to board the plane.  As we walked down the aisle, I felt a little awkward facing a planeful of people who had been sitting there close to an hour waiting for us.

We were very grateful.  I’m sure not everybody was thrilled.  Somebody at  Southwest Airlines made a high level decision to hold the plane for a few who fell behind, so that we all could go home together.  Reminds me of what President Obama is trying to do with his policy decisions.  It turned out that only two of us made it.

It was almost midnight when we pulled into the driveway of our home. Peter’s rushing out to his backyard farm to water his babies – radish, kale, green onions, broccoli etc. – wilted but not dead yet.  Thank God for miracles big and small, that we so quickly forget and move on.

Back to work.  Back to my pedestrian life.  I’ll work for our next takeoff.