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First Flight in 14 years

June 20, 2022 05:18AM
Flew on United to a family reunion in Oklahoma City over the weekend. My younger brother has glioblastoma and is slowly deteriorating as the brain tumor has started growing again. He has refused further treatment. The average lifespan after diagnosis is 18 months. He's had his for 6 years so he's been very lucky. But his luck is running out. My family hasn't been together since my dad died in 2013 so we figured we'd better get together now before it's too late. The logistics and cost for me, Frank, my kids, future son-in-law, and grandson all trying to go was just too much so we agreed that I'd make the trip by myself this time.

I haven't been on a plane since Frank and I went on our last smooth jazz cruise in 2008. I felt like someone flying for the first time, so much has changed since the last time I did it. In 2008 there was no airline apps, additional charge for checking a 24" x 10" suitcase, printing your own boarding pass, checking in online, paying for extra leg room, in flight wi-fi, a smorgasbord of movies and tv shows to watch in the air, etc. It's so different now and it was ALL new to me.

There are no direct flights from St Louis to Oklahoma City. I had to go through Houston coming and going. On the trip home, the plane left OKC and landed in Houston where I had a layover of about 1 1/2 hours. The gate where I landed and the gate where I needed to get to in order to continue on to St Louis couldn't have been further apart, I can't walk more than a block without wanting to keel over. This was a LOT further than that. The plane landed in terminal A around gate 4 and I had to get to terminal B gate 88. I wasn't sure I was going to make it, and I didn't see a cart or scooter for assistance anywhere. I just hobbled on best I could and stopped every few yards to rest my bones. So I'm creeping and limping along and what do I see? A WHATABURGER!!! I wanted to stop and get a cheeseburger from there so bad. There's no In-and-Out or WhataBurger in St Louis and I've heard they're both good so I just wanted to try one. Well, the line was really long to order and I still had a LONG way to go to get to my gate. So I just kept shuffling along. Then I passed a Smash Burger. Seemed like everywhere a burger was calling my name. Never had one of those either but it sure sounded good. I didn't want to chance missing the plane so I kept going.
I had some peanut butter sandwich crackers I had stashed in my purse and spent the flight dreaming about the burger I could have had. .







Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 06/20/2022 06:00AM by MamaRAMa.
SubjectAuthorViewsPosted

  First Flight in 14 years

MamaRAMa337June 20, 2022 05:18AM

  Really? No direct flights from STL to OKC?

sstrams116June 20, 2022 06:00AM

  Re: Really? No direct flights from STL to OKC?

MamaRAMa233June 20, 2022 06:17AM

  Yeah, its unfortunate..

sstrams125June 20, 2022 07:07AM

  Dallas to Wichita Falls is a 3 hour drive?

JamesJM98June 20, 2022 07:16AM

  Probably 2.5 or so, but with traffic jams and whatnot..

sstrams90June 20, 2022 07:20AM

  Re: Really? No direct flights from STL to OKC?

waterfield76November 18, 2023 06:04AM

  The times I've flown to St Louis have all been

sstrams72November 18, 2023 06:49AM

  I took a motorcycle to St. Louis...

JamesJM93November 18, 2023 09:15AM

  Re: I took a motorcycle to St. Louis...

ScRAM82November 18, 2023 10:35AM

  So sorry about your Brother, Mama...

JamesJM135June 20, 2022 06:10AM

  Yeah, totally agree..

sstrams187June 20, 2022 06:15AM

  Re: Yeah, totally agree..

MamaRAMa239June 20, 2022 06:29AM

  Wow, you and Steve are speaking my mind...

JamesJM98June 20, 2022 06:38AM

  Yeah, I totally agree about the ocean..

sstrams93June 20, 2022 07:11AM

  Good advice....

JamesJM110June 20, 2022 07:25AM

  One thing I absolutely remember was..

sstrams104June 20, 2022 07:33AM

  LOL I have had a window seat just once on my last 4 times on a plane.

Ramgator95June 20, 2022 07:55AM

  We base our window seating chart...

sstrams93June 20, 2022 07:58AM

  Very first time I flew on an airliner, I was PISSED!!!

Ramgator97June 20, 2022 07:59AM

  Yeah, its annoying..

sstrams206June 20, 2022 08:09AM

  Re: So sorry about your Brother, Mama...

MamaRAMa121June 20, 2022 06:18AM

  So sorry about this.

Ramgator115June 20, 2022 07:51AM

  Re: So sorry about this.

MamaRAMa162June 20, 2022 08:30AM

  Dang it, Mama! That is painful.

Ramgator175June 20, 2022 03:21PM

  My first flight....

JamesJM134June 20, 2022 09:05AM

  I don't remember my first 20 flights, or so..

sstrams99June 20, 2022 09:14AM

  You should have done it....

JamesJM130June 20, 2022 09:20AM

  Yeah, I regret it...

sstrams93June 20, 2022 09:43AM

  That would be tough...

JamesJM110June 20, 2022 09:54AM

  Yeah, for sure..

sstrams100June 20, 2022 11:29AM

  The choices we make in life....

JamesJM94June 20, 2022 11:40AM

  I have a lot of what-ifs...

sstrams112June 20, 2022 11:49AM

  My brother passed away yesterday

MamaRAMa115November 17, 2023 02:43PM

  Re: My brother passed away yesterday

SeattleRam77November 17, 2023 02:46PM

  Very sorry to hear that, Mama. My condolences. (nm)

JamesJM83November 17, 2023 05:29PM

  Re: My brother passed away yesterday

ScRAM108November 17, 2023 05:59PM

  very sorry for your loss nm

21Dog99November 17, 2023 08:03PM

  I hope you handle this well....

roman18119November 18, 2023 04:38AM

  You do YOUR thing! Funerals are for the living anyway.

Ramgator99November 18, 2023 11:01AM

  I changed my mind

MamaRAMa113November 19, 2023 05:06PM

  Good For You.....

ScRAM109November 19, 2023 05:40PM

  Glad to hear that.

Ramgator85November 20, 2023 09:51AM

  Sorry for your loss, Mama.

canadaram42November 21, 2023 04:14PM