GATS Brazil Trip – Part 4

The Challenges of Returning Home

It was a challenge to get home in so many ways. Monday was a very long day. We got to the airport around mid-afternoon. My flight wasn’t going to leave until 11:00 p.m. or so. We couldn’t even check in until 5:00 p.m. After check-in, I was by myself for hours because everyone else was shopping. I couldn’t. Eventually, I bought a bottle of water and some potato chips. After a while, I spotted another GATS student and she gave me her immune supplement, and I took one “dose” of large granules. She had more at home. But later, I fumbled the container, and spilled the last of it. But I was thankful she had offered it.

Suddenly, I realized we should be boarding, but no one was at the gate. I messaged another woman on my flight — and she informed me they had changed the gate! So, I hustled as best I could — the equivalent of a city block — to get to the right gate. They let me board immediately, for which I was very thankful.

The gentleman seated next to me put my carry-on in the overhead bin (because I was too short to reach it). He could also tell I wasn’t feeling well. He offered a whole box of cough drops. He said his wife always made sure he was well-stocked whenever he flew overseas with immune things and cough drops. I took one and put it in my mouth, the rest went into my carry-on.

The flight to Atlanta was uneventful because I slept all of it. I’ve never done that before. I woke up a time or two, and the cough drop was still partially undissolved in my mouth. I really needed the rest. There would be challenges the next day.

I was very thankful to be back on American soil, but I was so weak, and my back hurt, they got a wheelchair for me, stowing my carry-on on a sort of shelf underneath. A very nice porter-type man wheeled me to my gate and placed the wheelchair next to the wall (about five feet away) for when I would need it to board the plane. I fell asleep, and when I awoke, the wheelchair was gone! And so was my carry-on! The girl next to me said someone had just taken it about 10 minutes before. We got the employees involved, but nothing could be done. I was going to have to leave my carry-on in Atlanta and put in a claim for it later. At this point, I said to myself, “it’s just ‘things’ — they can be replaced.” Once in Harrisburg, I had to drive home, because I had driven our car to the airport.

That was my next challenge. I should have pulled over and called my husband to see if he could find someone to come and drive me and the car home. But it was July 4^th, a big summer holiday. Who knows how long I would have had to wait for someone to come? I asked God to help me drive carefully and get home safely. Thank goodness for those vibration strips on the shoulders. They helped when I didn’t even know I had drifted. I drove much slower than usual. It took longer, but I did make it home. I was so glad. God had given me great grace, and I was so thankful.

Next time, Cocooned with God.