First Solo Flight

It always boggles my mind how technology has advanced so quickly in such a short time. Take the telephone for instance…we’ve come a long way from having one telephone with a long cord that everyone in the household would use, to these handheld devices that go anywhere you go. There are no long, cumbersome cords and you don’t even have to hold them in order to talk to someone. I sure could have used one of them back in July of 1990.  This high tech stuff makes me feel downright old!!!! This story takes place before cell phones were prevalent.

My ex-husband and I moved to Philadelphia in 1976 (the bicentennial year). Before our apartment was ready, we stayed with a couple, Joe and Evie, who over time became like family to us. My ex and I were newlyweds in 1976, having been married a little less than a year.  Joe (affectionately called JoJo)  and my ex were in medical school together. Evie and I are kindred spirits – we both are creative types. I grew to love them both – their love of life, their zest for living, their steadfastness in difficult times and their love for each other permeated even the most difficult days and believe me, there were some difficult days!! It seemed natural that when I had my first child, some seven years later, that JoJo and Evie be our son’s godparents. This was perfect because they had been trying (without success) to have children for quite sometime. Interestingly enough, after many years of unsuccessful attempts, they finally adopted children. Daniella came first, and then a family of children, Jackie, Tim and William. William was a special needs child having been born with cerebral palsy. Right after that, Evie got pregnant and her and JoJo had their first natural child together – David. They both loved children and have very big hearts. Their philosophy seemed to be the more the merrier.  In fact, I decided to name my son, Yamil, after Evie’s nephew. The years came and went and we went our separate ways. JoJo and Evie went to Kalamazoo Michigan and after a 15-year marriage, my ex and I divorced and I moved to Maryland with the children.  As it worked out, JoJo used to come to Maryland from time to time for conferences and during those times, he would call and the children and I would manage to meet up with him. It was during one of those visits, that JoJo came up with the idea that Yamil should travel back to Kalamazoo with him and then in about a week, he would send him back to Maryland by plane.  The year was 1990 and it was just before Yamil’s 8th birthday. I went back and forth in my mind about this because the children were hardly ever separated from one another for any length of time and definitely not separated by a number of states!! I figured that these were his godparents, and I really did want them to have a close relationship with him – so after a lot of hand ringing, I finally agreed.

The week went by with no problem.  I was able to talk to him just about every day.  Things were going fine, and he actually loved the company of the other boys.  He was scheduled to return on a Sunday afternoon, July lst.  JoJo and Evie called to let me know that they had purchased the ticket and that they would be driving him from Kalamazoo, Michigan to Detroit, Michigan so that he could take a direct flight to BWI airport here in Maryland. The distance between Kalamazoo and Detroit is approximately 140 miles, about a 2-1/2 hour drive. His flight was scheduled to leave Detroit at 2:20 pm arriving at BWI at 3:45 pm. The girls and I were anticipating Yamil’s arrival on that Sunday.  JoJo and Evie called to say that Yamil was on the plane in Detroit, and they were headed back to Kalamazoo. We proceeded to head to the airport with enough time to arrive and be at the gate when he got off of the plane. I had heard nothing but good things about children traveling alone and how they were well taken care of but still, I was feeling a little nervous about the whole ordeal; after all this was not “children”, this was MY SON!!! Waiting at the gate, I started to become more and more anxious. I checked the incoming board, and his plane was listed but with no information. Finally, I asked at the information counter only to find out that his plane had been delayed. After waiting for some time, the airline said that the flight wasn’t scheduled to arrived until a couple of hours later, so we decided to head back home. Once there, I called his godparents. Of course, there was no answer at the house because of the distance they had to travel to get back home. I wanted to just go back to the airport but what if they were trying to call me? (Where were those cell phones when we needed them?) I kept calling but without any answer. When I finally got a hold of them I’m sure I sounded like a crazy person unable to put together a coherent sentence in between sobs and sheer panic. They had no idea that his plane had been delayed. They had actually put him on the plane and watched the plane taxi out. I hung up and immediately called the airline trying to get more information. I wanted to know exactly where my son was. Nobody could seem to give me any definitive information. I was told that his original flight had been CANCELLED!!!! No doubt they heard the panic in my voice as I yelled “WHERE IS MY SON?”  I demanded to know where he was. Evidently the plane had taxied out to the runway and then didn’t get clearance to take off. Subsequently they brought them back to the terminal and took everybody off the plane. Nobody could seem to tell me exactly what flight he was on and when I could expect him. I hung up in frustration.  I sat glued to the chair with my phone, long cord and all in hand, waiting to receive some word from the airline. About 10 minutes later, someone called me from the airline and said that his plane was due to arrive in 20 minutes. It was a good thing that my girlfriend was there with me. She proceeded to get the girls ready to jump back in the car. I’m not even sure they were able to get their shoes on before running out the door. We made a mad dash to get back to the airport.  Whoever wasn’t in the car by the time I got there – was definitely getting left!!!! The airport is approximately 30 minutes from the house, but we made it there in record time (probably close to 17 minutes). I went running through the airport, down to the gate. I was determined to be there when he got off. The flight had arrived, and people were disembarking. I was looking intently as the passengers came out. My eyes were starting to well up and I started feeling faint. Just then, this very nice older lady who must have sensed that I was panicking and therefore must have been Yamil’s mother, said to me…”Are you looking for a little boy?” I said yes almost in tears at this point. She told me how nice and polite he was and how brave he had been. She watched over him when they had to get off of the plane. I could hardly listen to her because I was still trying to see him come through that doorway. Finally, he arrived. I was never so relieved in my life. I dug down in my pocketbook, pulled out an envelope and asked the lady to give me her name and address. She wrote it down, handed me the envelope and just left. On the way home I kept asking Yamil if he was alright. He said yes but some minutes later he said ‘Mommy, I can’t do that anymore”.  I just had to chuckle. Little did he know that I COULDN’T DO THAT ANYMORE!!!!

I misplaced the envelope that Yamil’s “airplane buddy” had written her name and address on.  Her name was Mrs. White. I never got the opportunity to properly thank her for watching over my son – for being his surrogate parent that day. I’ve often thought about her over the years…….. Well, a few months ago (some 26 years later) I was looking for some important documents and lo and behold I came across that very envelope with her name and address on it along with my son’s airline ticket. I fear that too much time has passed but nevertheless I wrote a letter addressed to her hoping that it either gets to her or to someone that knows her.  I’m praying that she’s still alive and that I will get a response back. Wouldn’t it be nice if Yamil and I could go to see her after all these years? And let me say, lest I forget, to all the Mrs. White’s out there, thank you for your kindness.

Airline Ticket & Address