Guild - Day 1

8:13am

I woke up to my dad sounding a little panicky. I was 4:10am and I had overslept. After checking 2134 times to see if my alarm was on and everything... it didn’t go off. Technology.

I was ready in 15 minutes, grabbed a few last minute things, and we were out the door. Got my Dunkin Donuts fix (poor guy who runs the night shift has to do EVERYTHING) made it to the airport ON TIME, checked my bag (that’s already falling apart), and even had a minute to sit. That almost never happens.

Breezed through security, walked up to the gate, asked if I was in the right place, sat down, stood up, got on the plane, sat back down again. TMI? Sorry. The airplane scene in U.S. Marshall kept playing in my head as we were waiting to take off... so far so good.

I’ve had to get creative on my sleeping arrangements. I usually resort to pulling the tray table down and collapsing on that. It works.

Missing my New Life family. Not being with them on a Sunday morning just doesn’t feel.. like Sunday morning. Thankfully, worship takes place in the heart and not in a building.

Supposedly, three other guild attendees will be on my next flight. I have so much anxiety it’s not even funny. Wait, “be anxious for nothing.” Ok. I’m sure everything will be great... I feel like a lot has happened for such a time as this. God is sovereign.

That’s all I got, so I won’t keep talking.


9:37am

Well, I thought I’d have a second once I got off the plane to post my last uh, post.... but little did I know...

I got off the plane in good time. I figured that my connecting flight gate wouldn’t be that far away... how many planes can U.S. Airways have? I looked down at my next boarding pass.... F20.... no problem. Then I got out of the little walkway thingy... I was in a mysterious land of B’s. Maybe my gate changed... I walked up to the handy little monitor and didn’t see a slot for “Newburgh.” Well, that wasn’t a good sign. I did what any normal daughter would do... I called my dad. Unfortunately, it was 8:40 and dad’s phone was off. Ok, next option was to ask someone who worked there. I calmly explained my situation to this man at the gate I had just exited, and the man kindly explained that I had to take a shuttle to gate F. No mistake, apparently. My plane was gonna start boarding in 15 minutes, so I had to hoof it. This lady started following me and in a similar panic voice to my own, asked if I was going to gate F. Why, yes, I was. Apparently the man I talked to had told her to follow me... not sure if that was a good idea, but such was the case.

We sprint-walked, following sign after sign for the shuttle. Finally, the escalator down to the busses. There was a long line, so I joined in where I was... then was told to get in the back of the line which wound around the escalator into a dark hallway.

The line moved quickly and before I knew it I was on the bus, and so was my new friend. Both of us were freaking out that both of our planes were now boarding... we got on the bus and met another kindred spirit. But at least we were moving...

it’s a nutty system... we were riding this massive bus on the tarmac? We stopped in the middle of the runway for what felt like an eternity... to let a plane go by. While we were waiting, my two new best friends, in between outbursts of “I’m gonna miss my plane” were taking note of this tiny little plane sitting next to us... I wondered what kind of passengers ride on those. We started moving, passed my gate, and wound up on the complete opposite side of where I needed to be. Great.

You gotta understand something, the reason I blog about this in great detail is because this is only my second time flying by myself... no my third, but my second dealing with a layover. I walked as fast as my short little legs could take me and found a whopping three people at my gate. Boarding was closed. Except for a “Grace Coleman? Where is Grace Coleman?”

“I’M GRACE COLEMAN!”

“Ok, you’re gonna walk out this door and get on that plane over there... DFR” or something... all I saw was that tiny little plane I mentioned earlier. She scanned my boarding pass, and I was back on the tarmac... this time walking to my plane. By myself. I looked at one of the luggage guys and yelled to him “Will you go with me?!” The friendly soul answered “I gotcha on this one...” I climbed up the stairs to see 30 people staring at me blankly. Without trying to make eye contact with ANYBODY, I tried to spot the other 3 guild people... The only stewardess on this flight looked at me with this “are you lost?” type look... for a minute, I forgot everything. Was I supposed to give her my name? No, silly. Seat number. C3. Ok, sitting now.

The plane started up and it sounded like one of those old, broken wall unit air conditioners... not a good sound. The plane was shaking from the propellers. My dad used to always say I can be afraid when he’s afraid... but this time my dad wasn’t here. So I applied this rule of thumb to the stewardess, who although she’s trained not to panic, looked extremely comfortable and calm.

That’s enough for now. We’ve already begun our descent. My heart has finally started to slow down and I’ve caught my breath. I’m hungry and pretty sure my suitcase didn’t make it on the plane seeing how I barely did. U.S. Airways, thank for the adventure... not sure if I’ll pick you again, unless of course you’re the cheapest again.

6:56pm
Just finished dinner... getting ready to rehearse with my new friend Caroline... more later.