Another Mode of Transportation

What do I have in common with Aron Ralston, author of “Between a Rock and a Hard Place”?

We both found ourselves trapped in strenuous problematic circumstances, but managed to find the courage within to survive and make it through to the other side.

Aron’s story is about an adventurous hike in the mountains where he was forced to amputate his lower right arm with a dull knife in order to free himself after his arm became trapped by a boulder.

My story is of a 2 hour flight from Cincinnati to Dallas with a one year child.

My seat was nestled in between the plane window and a man wearing a business suit looking at charts and conducting a conversation on his blackberry. I knew the moment I sat down that I was in for a challenge.

Everything that could happen did happen. I went to turn off my cell phone and baby Z wanted it. More like he wanted to launch it across the plane for another passenger to retrieve. He was doing okay until the man next to me pulled out his laptop. Baby Z is obsessed with laptops. I did everything in my power to stop him from pushing on the keyboard. Of course this did not make the baby very happy and so he proceeded to vocalize his frustration to the entire plane. It was one thing after another. This had to be the longest 2 hours of my life. I repeated the words “flight attendants please prepare for landing” as though I could make the flight end telepathically.

Eventually those glorious words of freedom would indicate that it was almost over and deliverance was near. By this time baby Z was about to blow as his moan, turned into a whine, which was about to erupt into a blood curdling scream. It was then I thought he felt feverish, and then I felt wet. I honestly thought maybe he was throwing up, but it didn't take long for me to realize he had a leaky diaper and we were both saturated. At that point I decided to concede defeat. While I sat there staring at the tray table in it’s upright position we slowly rolled down the runway to a stop. Suddenly everything was quite and I looked down to see that the little guy had finally given into to his restlessness and was fast asleep. So I don’t have a gold medal, a best selling novel, or any kind of reward, but I survived flying with a toddler and I can now say that that is an accomplishment that compares to no other.

*I know this week is about cars, but I thought I would share about another mode of transportation. Having just experienced this yesterday I wanted to get it out while it was fresh on my mind. I also wanted to mention that in all seriousness Aran’s story really is amazing. I would encourage you to check out his book.