I woke up at 8 or 8:30 a.m. running on fumes but in surprisingly great shape. Still, I had a list. Jewelry, makeup, last things into their places. I knocked out almost everything except printing the reservations, which of course I would remember once I was halfway to the airport.
Tim said we needed to leave at 9:40. I was ready at 10. We pulled up to the airport at 10:45 and I figured TSA Precheck would have me at the gate by 11:15. The line was long but not awful, and CLEAR was completely empty. I used the time to finish my CLEAR enrollment, which I had been meaning to wrap up forever.
We took off a little late at 12:52 p.m. and landed in Atlanta at 1:35 p.m.
Mom said meet her at Terminal F. So I made my way to the plane train and got to enjoy the cute little Atlanta voiceover: “Terminal C for Coffee. Terminal D for Delectables.” I missed whatever they did with E, and suddenly I was at F.
On the way I spotted an Atlanta Bread Company. We used to have one in Florence until it closed, and I got so excited I snapped a photo and dropped it into the family chat.
I found Mom at the Delta Sky Lounge, wide eyed, telling me she had been so excited she barely slept the night before. We relocated to the outdoor section. She pulled out a little travel kit Dad had put together for her, and I was impressed. He had packed her cords with what looked like old style USB tips, but the tips popped right off to reveal the new style underneath. Brilliant. The catch was she didn’t have a power block. I had packed exactly one. Of course Dad was three steps ahead and had tucked her European power brick into her checked bag, so once we got to the hotel we’d have plenty between us.
Then we boarded our flight to Paris.
Air France this time, not Delta.
The plane had the new premier suites up front. I really wanted to walk up and gawk at them, but everything was cordoned off. Very “private, do not enter.”
We had champagne,
We got unpacked and opened up our gift, with our toothbrush, socks, eye mask etc.
Next up an appetizer course,
The main dinner,
A cheese course (we skipped), and dessert.
Mom called it the flying gourmet restaurant and I cannot think of a better description.
Once dinner was cleared, I started getting cozy. They had mattress pads on the lie-flat seats this time, which was a great new addition. Mom tried to watch Green Book but we only had a four-hour sleep window so she didn’t make it far.
I brushed my teeth to trick myself and did my Nozin gargle. Then I went to set up my bed and discovered my sneakers, which I had left on the floor of my pod, were jamming the recline. Once I figured that out, I got the seat flat and tucked in.
A small confession before I drifted off. Right after I got back from the bathroom earlier, the stewardesses had come through and lectured us all about wearing our seatbelts. Mom and I both obliged. Then once they walked away and I got cozy, I quietly took mine off and tucked it under the blanket where they couldn’t see. Such a rebel.
I fluffed my Nod Pod, and by 8 p.m. I was sound asleep somewhere high above the Atlantic.
Happiness is Possible 