- Jul 22, 2019
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I want to recognize the God-sends we get even in tragic times. This is a cousin post to one I made in the grief/mourning forum today. Not sure why I feel the need to share. Hopefully someone is blessed by this.
I was living in Japan when my little brother died tragically in front of my mom. My husband was forward deployed. My husband's assistant first sergeant went above and beyond to help me and my little kids get out on the earliest flight. I would have had to wait over the weekend and possibly a third day to get a flight out. I remember the base travel agent telling him "No, it was against the rules." She needed X to authorize Y first which wasn't going to be available until after the weekend. So he asked to talk to her in private. When they came back, I had my plane tickets. And the first shirt kept promising to have the signatures/paperwork she needed come Monday morning. The Air Force even paid for the tickets. For 3 of us it was around $7000 in last minute international plane tickets.
Plus, the first shirt worked to get my husband sent to my home state for 10 days from his deployment. He flew in to the states from the east. I flew in from the west. My husband's emergency tickets cost around $7,000 and it was all paid for too. The hubby was coming from a much more remote location so that is why the cost was so high for him I imagine. I must remember knowing it was like $14-$15,000 for all 4 of us. Bless that man, emergency Air Force policies, and praise the Lord! I did not expect any of it.
In my stress to leave the next morning, I spilled cut up grapes and I don't know what other snacks food for my kids. And my Bible study friend offered to help me clean up when she drove us to the airport. Praise the Lord for beautiful friends!
Right before the first layover, in Narita, my 1 year-old had a major blowout that took time to clean up. And I didn't know how to reclaim my luggage which was required before I flew internationally. (The first leg was domestic from Okinawa to Tokyo.)
Shock was wearing off and waves of grief were setting in. After changing my baby, praise the Lord, I just so happened to look down and see my luggage in the middle of the floor below me. I didn't even know where I was in that airport and I suddenly recogized something. My luggage was an endearing sight. And I felt so drained after one leg. But praise the Lord my luggage was set out for me. I guess they had a protocol for folks like me who don't pick up their luggage in a timely manner. Bless them.
The second leg my baby wouldn't stop crying. The attendant kept trying to get me to make her quiet. At our next layover, LAX, I had a colorful express layover paper to help me make my last flight but I also had a heavy carseat (my aunt, a former CPS worker/foster mom told me it was the heaviest carseat she had ever come across) and two little kids in tow. I was rushing to my gate when I forgot my favorite jacket- a sovereign from Spain-- at a check point. Bless them, the attendants tried to flag me down and return it but I was too far down the terminal and time was running out. I had to let the fancy jacket go. So I did.
At the next checkpoint, a true God-send in the form of an LAX attendant took me and my kids under her wing to get us to our gate on time. She flashed her ID, took us out back doors, around a building or two and through other doors. She didn't know us but she helped us. She even pointed me in the direction of the Hollywood sign when we were outside. Sweet sweet precious lady. I'll always remember her.
Later, my kids got kudos from two strangers on our last leg. They slept like angels by then. At our destination airport, I only had a Japanese cell phone and I could not find a pay phone anywhere. And the hotel convenience phone wasn't working. I had to beg a stranger to let me call my hotel shuttle bus to pick us up. One man agree. He looked so skeptical. A mom with her little kids asking to use his phone in an airport side hall-- I get it. Bless him. Not everyone who looks scammy is.
Thankfully, at the hotel, I met up with my husband after three months deployed. It was so comforting to have him there for a few days before he returned to his deployment. And my brother had a very dignified funeral. Also, my 5 year old got to meet some cousins and she was thrilled because, "They talk like me do!"
Last, I was supposed to exchange currency in Narita on my first layover because I was low on yen. I didn't have time before my flight or at Narita which I needed on my return to Okinawa for some reason. I would not be traveling back through Tokyo on my return trip and Okinawa didn't have a currency exchange. But praise the Lord, I had just enough yen when I returned to clear the Okinawa airport and meet my ride home.
So even in tragedy, God helps us out. He really is always there. ((XOXO to the Lord). Blessings! Sorry about the book!
I was living in Japan when my little brother died tragically in front of my mom. My husband was forward deployed. My husband's assistant first sergeant went above and beyond to help me and my little kids get out on the earliest flight. I would have had to wait over the weekend and possibly a third day to get a flight out. I remember the base travel agent telling him "No, it was against the rules." She needed X to authorize Y first which wasn't going to be available until after the weekend. So he asked to talk to her in private. When they came back, I had my plane tickets. And the first shirt kept promising to have the signatures/paperwork she needed come Monday morning. The Air Force even paid for the tickets. For 3 of us it was around $7000 in last minute international plane tickets.
Plus, the first shirt worked to get my husband sent to my home state for 10 days from his deployment. He flew in to the states from the east. I flew in from the west. My husband's emergency tickets cost around $7,000 and it was all paid for too. The hubby was coming from a much more remote location so that is why the cost was so high for him I imagine. I must remember knowing it was like $14-$15,000 for all 4 of us. Bless that man, emergency Air Force policies, and praise the Lord! I did not expect any of it.
In my stress to leave the next morning, I spilled cut up grapes and I don't know what other snacks food for my kids. And my Bible study friend offered to help me clean up when she drove us to the airport. Praise the Lord for beautiful friends!
Right before the first layover, in Narita, my 1 year-old had a major blowout that took time to clean up. And I didn't know how to reclaim my luggage which was required before I flew internationally. (The first leg was domestic from Okinawa to Tokyo.)
Shock was wearing off and waves of grief were setting in. After changing my baby, praise the Lord, I just so happened to look down and see my luggage in the middle of the floor below me. I didn't even know where I was in that airport and I suddenly recogized something. My luggage was an endearing sight. And I felt so drained after one leg. But praise the Lord my luggage was set out for me. I guess they had a protocol for folks like me who don't pick up their luggage in a timely manner. Bless them.
The second leg my baby wouldn't stop crying. The attendant kept trying to get me to make her quiet. At our next layover, LAX, I had a colorful express layover paper to help me make my last flight but I also had a heavy carseat (my aunt, a former CPS worker/foster mom told me it was the heaviest carseat she had ever come across) and two little kids in tow. I was rushing to my gate when I forgot my favorite jacket- a sovereign from Spain-- at a check point. Bless them, the attendants tried to flag me down and return it but I was too far down the terminal and time was running out. I had to let the fancy jacket go. So I did.
At the next checkpoint, a true God-send in the form of an LAX attendant took me and my kids under her wing to get us to our gate on time. She flashed her ID, took us out back doors, around a building or two and through other doors. She didn't know us but she helped us. She even pointed me in the direction of the Hollywood sign when we were outside. Sweet sweet precious lady. I'll always remember her.
Later, my kids got kudos from two strangers on our last leg. They slept like angels by then. At our destination airport, I only had a Japanese cell phone and I could not find a pay phone anywhere. And the hotel convenience phone wasn't working. I had to beg a stranger to let me call my hotel shuttle bus to pick us up. One man agree. He looked so skeptical. A mom with her little kids asking to use his phone in an airport side hall-- I get it. Bless him. Not everyone who looks scammy is.
Thankfully, at the hotel, I met up with my husband after three months deployed. It was so comforting to have him there for a few days before he returned to his deployment. And my brother had a very dignified funeral. Also, my 5 year old got to meet some cousins and she was thrilled because, "They talk like me do!"
Last, I was supposed to exchange currency in Narita on my first layover because I was low on yen. I didn't have time before my flight or at Narita which I needed on my return to Okinawa for some reason. I would not be traveling back through Tokyo on my return trip and Okinawa didn't have a currency exchange. But praise the Lord, I had just enough yen when I returned to clear the Okinawa airport and meet my ride home.
So even in tragedy, God helps us out. He really is always there. ((XOXO to the Lord). Blessings! Sorry about the book!
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