An Inconvenient Christmas

You know, it’s funny how words to one little song can ring true in one moment and in the next instant they are the words that you despise the most. The Christmas season is a time where hopes and dreams are expressed and emotions are intensified. It’s the dreaming of a white Christmas that always gets me. People claim they love to see the snow and cuddle on the couch with loved ones looking out the window watching it fall; they marvel at the snow and praise the One who created such magical precipitation; one instant they’re in love and the next minute they can’t stand to look at it. Last week I witnessed thousands of people break up with snow once and for all. You see, when things get in the way of set plans people aren’t so appreciative of them any longer. For a brief minute or two I was one of the people who was not so appreciative of the snow.

While London was covered in a winter wonderland, I was anxiously waiting in the Cork airport to see if my flight would be cancelled or not. I jumped every time the bell rang to signal a new announcement coming from the loud speaker. When the words “flight cancelled” echoed through the airport, my love for snow started to quickly fade. After that first announcement, the adventure home rapidly began. It all started with me telling the ticket vendor that I had to at least make it to London and go from there. Half the battle was getting out of Ireland; the other half was getting out of London. I figured getting half of the trip over was better than nothing. Besides, I had to be out of my apartment by the 24th, and I was already packed. Despite the apparent disapproval the ticket vendor showed, she printed me a ticket for Gatwick and I ran (literally) to catch the plane. I was supposed to have another flight out of another airport in London later that evening, but it too was cancelled. I again made my way to the ticket counter to see what was going to become of me. Hearing the phrase “there are no flights to America this side of Christmas” was not exactly what I had hoped to hear. However, God is faithful and soon I had a new itinerary printed out. As long as the weather cooperated I would be out of London by 10am the next day.

Because there were thousands of other people stuck in London all of the hotels, B & B’s and Hostels were full. I didn’t really know how long I would be stuck in Europe so saving money by not sleeping in a hotel seemed fine to me. People do strange things in the middle of the night in an airport; the movie Terminal does not really do justice to people who have actually been stranded. Makeshift beds out of coats and suitcases were everywhere; teenage boys were doing handstand push-ups to either 1) impress the girl they just met or 2) try to see which one of them was stronger or 3) a mixture of the first two. I found myself sitting next to a lovely lady from Scotland and talked to her for most of the night and people watched the other half. I did not sleep a wink.

The next day I cannot even describe how crazy the line was to check-in for the flights. As of 6am the runways were open and all flights were on schedule. The place was in a frenzy with people going in all sorts of directions. You could not tell one line from another. People just wanted to get out of there and get to their destinations. My first destination was Antigua. To be honest, when the lady at the ticket counter told me where I had to go in order to get home, I had no idea where she was sending me. I had never even heard of Antigua before. I didn’t know I was going to the Caribbean until I was actually on the flight – maybe even up in the air. I didn’t care, I was one of the lucky ones who didn’t have to spend three days in the airport and I was going home.

The flight to Antigua was delayed due to strong head winds and such and it turns out that 7 other people and I missed the next flight (headed to Miami). We were stuck on an island in the Caribbean. I would have broken down and cried if I had to go through everything at that airport alone, but the 7 other people I met were great. We all got sent to a resort (5 star by their standards, maybe 3 star by ours) to stay the night. Yes, I heard Christmas carols while sitting on the white sandy beach having a Caribbean dinner in 70 degree weather three days before Christmas. I took the liberty of collecting seashells to commemorate the experience.

The next day I had a flight to San Juan, Puerto Rico. We left the sun and the sand to get welcomed to America by rain (yet, warm weather) in San Juan, where I stayed for another five hours. My next destination was Chicago and I could hardly wait. I prayed that the snow there would not delay any of my flights any further. Thankfully I arrived safely to Chicago and only had a 3 hour layover. Or so I thought. It turns out mechanical errors like to happen and cause delays just as much as unexpected weather. My flight ended up being delayed by two hours. Needless to say I was happy to see the snow covered corn fields and be greeted by the sub-zero degree weather by the time I finally reached Iowa. After the drive home my total travel time was exactly 72 hours. In that time I think I slept a total of maybe 10 hours. I’m not even sure I got that much sleep throughout the entire trip, but I was sure ready for bed. Time changes can be funny though, I thought I would sleep in really late after all that travel, but I was wide awake and ready to role by 8:30 the next morning I even decided to babysit my wonderful niece and nephew that night. :-)

The journey was very long and hard at times, but I did make it home for Christmas. Seeing my family was more of a gift than anything else that I wanted. Unfortunately I’m sure there are many people that were not as lucky as I. Flights after mine left London were cancelled and more snow was coming in as I was leaving. Families were separated, and many Christmases were spent in the airport. I will never forget my adventure, but more importantly, I will never forget to be completely grateful for every single thing that I am given no matter how large or small. It’s the inconvenient moments that cause us to see the most precious things of life, and the most precious things are what we must cherish forever.

I hope you all had an inconvenient Christmas this year.