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October 14, 2007

Travel's Little Pleasures

I have yet to remember to go online to get a boarding pass the day of my flight. Here I stand again in the B line with the rest of the forgetful passengers. We mill around and talk to those in front or behind us while other passengers are finding seats.

The lady in front of me has two children and five grandchildren. I know because we agree we would not want to take the place of the Mom behind us with the cute, blond little boy. Mom and Grandmom both have their hands full as he wants up, no down; a bottle, no a binky.

As our line begins to move, Grandmom gives him a last kiss and walks by us. My friend comments that now she can go home and rest. She looks at us and says, “I’m going to go sleep for the rest of the weekend.”

I choose to sit several rows away from the Mom and child whose face was now covered in red licorice. I ended up across the aisle from a Mom, Dad and child about the same age as the little boy. She was sitting in Dad’s lap as we all settled in to our seats.

I watched as the plane began to taxi and she stood up in Daddy’s lap. He hugged her tight and then asked her to find his nose. She touched his nose and giggled. He then asked her to find his eyes, ears, chin, and hair. She laughed every time she touched his face. He hugged her every time she laughed. As we took off and I felt my ears begin to pop, I saw the little girl sit down and lean against her Dad. He held her tight, and she relaxed without making a sound.

I worked on my computer most of the flight, but I couldn’t help but notice the little girl. For an hour and a half in a very confined space, she and her Dad or her Mom played. Toward the end of the flight when all tray tables were up and seats returned to their upright positions, my seatmate and I commented on the little girl. She’d been watching her too. She said, “Those are two lucky parents.”

Luck? Maybe, but I don’t think so.

Posted by Dr Joni at October 14, 2007 09:07 AM