Time to spread the wings . . .

Back when I worked at the airport in Burlington, Vermont I would have to take care of a UNAM (unaccompanied minor) once in awhile. We would have a piece of paper that gathered signatures of people that were responsible for getting the child from one point to another, where they were then handed over to another employee, and yet another signature collected. I could never figure out how parents could actually entrust their precious children to the care of an airline. Don't get me wrong - we did our job well and I don't recall ever losing any children! But that's not my point. I would always think of my own child all alone . . . . flying across the big blue sky. And it always bothered me. I could never bring myself to do it. Even though we had flight benefits and I didn't even have to pay for the fee for having someone guide her from gate to gate and onto the plane. I still couldn't do it. We did send her to her grandparents for summer vacations. But one of us always went with her to make sure she made it ok. Then we'd go and pick her up again.

She's been missing her friends very much since we left Utah. This move hit her the hardest. We yanked her out of her happy place at the beginning of her senior year! Who wouldn't be upset? Maybe some day she can look back and be thankful for the move, or look at the good side. Maybe not! Either way - here we are, and it's a very long way from everyone. And quite honestly, I'm truly thankful to have a daughter that doesn't hate us at this point. She's been a trooper! So we promised her that we'd send her back to see her friends once we got settled. Springbreak seemed like the perfect time. I remember taking a road trip with my friend on our senior spring break. It's kind of like a rite of passage. And thank goodness it's not a Cancun style spring break. She's NOT that kind of girl! Whew! *wipe's forehead*

So we bought her a ticket. But the cheapest one had 2 connections on the way there. One in LA with plenty of time to connect and one in San Francisco with only 30 minutes to connect. That 30 minute connection made me nervous. Oh heck, this whole thing made me nervous! I still can't stand the thought of my baby flying by herself! My niece Jill asked me (referring to my baby bird spreading her wings) if it was a jump from the nest or a push. I replied, "I reluctantly let her jump trying not to get her tangled in the apron strings on the way out!" That pretty much summed it up for me. I know I need to let her get out there on her own. I mean, let's face it, she's going to college in 3 months! But I'm being an over-protective mother hen. Or maybe it's just a delayed reaction. I didn't have a problem letting her go to kindergarten. You know how many moms cry when their children go off to school at the age of 5? Not me - nope, I was excited to have a few hours during the day to do whatever I wanted . . . or laundry - whatever! And I've always let her visit her grandparents during the summers. Sometimes for months at a time! But now . . . . knowing that in a few months she's MOVING OUT of my home . . . *sigh* I think I'm having seperation anxiety! So yeah, letting her step on a plane all by her lonesome and make those connections without the mother hen pecking at her to make sure she has everything and dragging her running to make a short connection . . . it was all I could do not to be a dork at the airport dropping her off.

We gave her strict instructions to text us when she made her connections and got on the next plane. The texts started coming in around 4am our time. And they kept coming in while she waited during her long 3 hour layover in LA. (Camille's texts * - my texts ^)

*we landed and are waiting to get off the plane*
^good!^
*yeah. I slept horribly*
^don't fall asleep until your on the next plane^
*I won't*
^what did you find to eat?^
*Mickey D's*
*how long is the flight from SanFran to Utah?*
^about 2 hours^
*and the one from LA to SanFran is 1 1/2?*
^yes^
*Ugh, I hate 3 flights*
^Yup, it's hard after a redeye^
*It's retarded after a redeye*
^Did you find your gate?^
*Yeah, it said on the thing Sanfrancisco 10:28 71B ontime. United 1167*
^how long til you board^
*I don't know. Like an hour and half to 2 hours*
^what are you doing now?^
*sitting and waiting*
^I'm listenting to a squeaky bed monkey^ (I must explain our cat has a squeaky sounding purr)
*What? Oh branford?*
^Yup! He's watching a moth and just got really quiet. And now he's off the bed^
*Hahaha. Silly kitty.*
^Indeed^
*Hahaha, oh well*
^did you watch any of the shorts on the iPod?^
*all of them possible*
^are there any shops close by?^
*Yeah, why?*
^Just curious. You have about an hour to kill^
*Yup. I'm just sitting here like I have been for the last 2 hours.*
^Ok^
*Yup*
*Forever long. Time goes by so slowly. Time goes by so slowly. I just saw the coolest belt ever! It was rubber and it had bottle caps, old metal ones, all the way around it and the buckle was like an old car seat buckle you know. slip it in click push the button release?*
^Cool. How much?^
*30 flippin dollars. >:(*
^Bummer^
*And there is this way cute scarf that is really really really really soft! I fell in love with it. 17.00 buckeroos though.*
^That's not too bad. What color?^
*It's plaid. light turqoise, marigold lavender moss green and a little bit of white.*
^sounds pretty^
*on the plane now :)* - (a big sigh of relief - one connection down, one to go)
^yea!^
*I'm in the window seat!* (she was supposed to have a middle seat. Score!)
^cool^
*The old man took my seatbelt and is sitting on his or something! He looks like a grumpy gramps. Uh-oh*
^Be very polite and say "excuse me but I think you have my belt"^
*ha ha ha. Don't worry. I tugged on what I could see of one of them and he noticed and we switched. It's all good.*
^oh good^
text to Scott - ^she's on the second plane^

***********I go back to sleep for awhile************

*we landed 30 minutes early!! So I have time to find my next terminal!!*
^Wahoo! Prayers really work! Keep me posted.^
*Will do!*
*I'm at the gate*
^Have they boarded yet?^
*They haven't started yet.*
^Cool beans^
*yeah, cool beans*
^you're on the home stretch^
*Huh?*
^Should be smooth sailing from here.^
*Oh yeah!*
*On the plane.*
^WAHOO!!!!^
*Yip yip! Kay turning off phone*

That's it! She got to SLC and called her dad to tell him she arrived! I had a headache from lack of sleep from texting all morning! Thank goodness for technology! Silly girl still hasn't called ME to say she made it! But I'm ok . . . don't want those aprons strings to trip her as she's running around with friends!