Ever get a text from your Soldier that said "Oh and there might be a bomb on the plane"? Yup, I have. Who texts their mother and tells her that? LOL Yup, my Jake does. I wouldn't want it any other way either. So the day that this text came was the biggest roller coaster of a day. Let me share that day and the events that led up to it and the event that followed that has made me now thankful for that possible bomb.
Jake was coming home for a visit in between training locations. He had been at Eglin Air Force Base and was now being re-classed and assigned an MOS that trains at Fort Huachuca, Arizona. It had been very up in the air for a few weeks on when he would be coming home and even IF he would be coming home before moving to Arizona. Final plans were not made until just a few days before. My emotions were pretty much on high already because of the situation that he had just faced. He had experienced great disappointment. The biggest of them all, he was disappointed in himself. I wanted him home, I wanted to help him move forward to his new assignment, I wanted him here.
He boarded a plane in Florida on that Monday morning and I did like I always do when he travels....I track him. I know, it gets back to my previous post about not being an obsessive mother, I am an engaged mother. But I don't have to explain myself to you mom's...you all get it and you all probably do the same thing. So as I am watching this blip moving across the sky on my little screen it all of a sudden changed. It gave me some funky excuse of a reason as to why it was no longer able to be tracked. YUP, THIS MOTHER FREAKED SLIGHTLY! I calmed myself down and came up with a million reasons that justified what had happened. Computer mess ups happen all the time. Satellites go down all the time. It was nothing to worry about. Just sit here and chill and in a bit I would surely get that familiar text from Jake that always says "just landed".
Well that isn't exactly the message I got. Instead I got one that said, "I am still on the plane and they think there could be a bomb on it." YUP, THIS MOTHER FREAKED WAY MORE THAN SLIGHTLY!
I have to be honest and tell you that he had sent me a few more texts within a short time, but I can't remember exactly what he said to me after that first one came. I know that he told me he would be going to Detriot. He let me know that he was okay but they still were not sure exactly what if anything had been done in the bathroom that was, are you ready for this....in the bathroom that was DIRECTLY behind his seat. He was in the last row directly next to the bathroom door! SERIOUSLY?! He was sharing this all with me as I was searching for info online for details. I found a breaking news clip from Detriot that verified what he had told me. I watched a news clip that showed his plane had been taken to Detriot and had landed successfully. Okay, phew...that made it less scary. Seeing that image of that plane on the ground and knowing that my son was sitting there inside of it at that time....wow, there are not words to describe what I was feeling at that moment.
After watching the news clip it was just a few minutes and I heard from Jake. The phone rang this time! It was his voice! Oh Thank you God! He called saying that he knew I was probably freaking, but that he couldn't talk long cause he wasn't really supposed to be calling right then. He was being taken into a secure area and would need to meet and talk with someone from the Detriot Police Dept and/or the Airport Security. That was all okay. I was more than happy to wait til the next phone call. Just hearing his voice was enough. In that short amount of time I went from complete joy that my son was boarding a plane to come home, to complete fear that he was going to die, to complete happiness of knowing he was fine. When my mind said the words, "We could have lost him today"...I just cried every time that thought came to mind. I kept trying to replace the thought with the one that he was okay and would soon be heading home on another plane.
He was delayed in Detriot for a while. I could hear in his voice that the day had taken a toll on him as well. He needed to get home as much as home needed him to get here. The airline did get him booked on a flight later that day. With the events of the day and with him now being delayed in arriving, it changed the plans on who would be meeting him at the airport. Remember way back in an earlier post when I told you that our family did everything and anything together when it came to my boys. That day proved it yet again. Since the day turned out to be even more joyous for his arrival we ALL went to meet him at the airport. Because of the delay and that possible dang bomb, which by the way, it wasn't a bomb...it was a strange screwy mess up, but anyway....the delay allowed his father and grandfathers time to get out of work and all decided to ride down. So there we were...all of Jake's grandparents and my husband and I packed into my mini van going to bring our boy home.
Phew, what a HUGE relief when I saw that familiar smiling face coming down the escalator. There is never a day that a mother wonders about the love she has for her children. But let me tell you the love I have for my boys somehow just multiplied on that day when I faced the real thought of losing one of them.
So I have to finish up this by actually saying that I am now thankful for that screwy mess of a day and the events that happened. That bomb scare and delay made it possible for our entire family to spend that evening together. We picked Jake up and then all enjoyed a nice family dinner on the way home. I don't know why things happen, but they all happen for a reason. As it turned out that family dinner was the last one that we all had together. My father in law died 2 days later. It was the biggest shock and it came with such great pain and loss. I have to look back now and be thankful for that delay that allowed us all to be together one more time. The timing of having Jake home during this family tragedy is one that I will forever be thankful for. Even in a week of great loss and great emotion, we made one last memory that stays with us all forever. We made it thru that scary Monday and the rest of the week as we will make it thru every day...Army Strong...Army Family Strong.
Sending you, your family, and your Soldier lots of love and support,
Faith
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