By Karen Harris
STONE MOUNTAIN, Ga. | Before I started my holiday vacation to Dayton, Ohio, I asked God to stretch my heart. I wanted to have a beautiful and authentic time with my sisters, mother and dad, even though dramatic moments typically can come out at holiday time.
Harris
In addition to Christmas, we were celebrating Dad’s 98 birthday. After Christmas we learned that my sister’s long time companion was going to join us for Dad’s birthday. I thought that was nice and the holiday visit went well. Soon my sister and I were off back to New York and Atlanta. Her trip went along fine.
My flight out of Dayton was at 4:45 p.m. on Delta with a projected arrival at 6:45. As I walked into the airport, I had a bad feeling. Something felt amiss. I checked my bag and got to the concourse.
We boarded at 4:15 and nothing happened. Bad weather in Atlanta, and we set off at 5:20. But at 7:30 p.m., we were being diverted to Nashville to refuel since the weather was still bad in Atlanta. We finally arrived in Atlanta by 9:15. My bag would be at carousel 2. The terminal was teeming with people. There was no notification of my flight on carousel 2.
I walked up and down the terminal from carousel 1 to 9 and no flight from Dayton or Nashville was listed. A long line was forming at the baggage assistance site. I remember saying to myself “Please I don’t need this!”
I finally got a young woman to help me, and she scanned my baggage slip. She asked if Atlanta was my final stop and I said yes. She said ”Let me check. I will be right back.” I had a fear that they had mixed my bag up with passengers who had connections and it got misplaced. She got back with me and said that my bag was in pier 7(downstairs), and so far had not been sent to the carousel.
She said I would have to get in the line to request my bag to be sent up! I quietly got in line along with the 100 people there.
By then it was 10:40, and I waited until 11:20 to be helped. It would take an hour or more before my bag would be brought up. I elected to wait because I had no confidence about it being delivered to my home.
There were about 20 of us at Oversize Baggage waiting for our bags. By now my back was starting to hurt as there was no place to sit near Baggage Claim. I actually sat for a brief time on carousel 9.
At 12:55 a.m. I got my bag. I was tired and honestly hungry because the last I had eaten was a brief snack with dad and my Dayton sister at 2:30 p.m.
Next step was to call for an Uber ride. One could get me at 1:30.a.m. Finally, the long walk to the rideshare off of Terminal North. The Uber driver was excellent and I arrived home at 2 a.m.
I was so tired I dropped the bag and just went to bed. I woke up at 7:30 and cried for about five minutes. It was harrowing, but I learned I could get through a really tough situation for which I had no previous experience.
Finally, if you pray to be moved to a new place in your heart and soul…it will happen. It won’t be easy, but you will get to the other side. Now, Happy New Year!
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