Sunday was our ‘last day’ in New York City. After church, we finished packing and cleaning the apartment, turned in our keys to the landlord and a member of our ward drove us to the shuttle stop (with all our luggage- a LOT) and we waited for the Jet Blue employee shuttle- which took us to John F Kennedy Airport. Our flight wasn’t scheduled to leave until 5:00 pm but we arrived at the airport at 1:30 pm so that we would have enough time to do everything- because we heard it was busy with the Holiday Rush. We arrived to bad luck- our flight was a connector flight in Boston and Boston was being hit by a huge winter storm- and we would miss our connector flight (by 4 hours) and be stranded in Boston. So we changed to another flight at 9:00pm and began our wait.
Around 4:00pm we got the word that our second flight was cancelled- due to weather between the two airports. We were put on the flight the following evening (Christmas Eve) at 9:00 but were put on the waiting list for the 9:35 am flight and were pretty sure we would make it. So we, bag-less, homeless, but hopeful left the airport.
The hope diminished on our long trip home- through torrential rainfall, waiting for shuttles, busses and trying to find our landlord’s house. (We even got splashed all up our legs- Ben got it worse- with dirty New York gutter water- which added a wet frozenness to our homeless state). Our landlord was very understanding and gave us the keys to get into our apartment. So we hunkered down (after a home cooked meal at Boston Market) in our bare apartment to stay the night. Our apartment is furnished and the landlord has a closet of her own stuff there- so it wasn’t as bare as it sounds- we had a bed to sleep on (no sheets, but that is a luxury anyway). We got up (same old cloths- we didn’t have any of our luggage, or bathroom stuff or anything) and got on the bus at 5:30am to get to the shuttle by 6:00 but we missed the shuttle by 5 minutes- so we had to wait for an hour for the next shuttle. So we had breakfast at a delicious hole in the wall coffee shop- which warmed our spirits and bellies for the day to come.
We got to the airport and checked in by 7:30-ish for our 9:30 am flight. At 8:00 they told us we were delayed till 11:30, at 11:25 they told us we were delayed till 2:00. Six hours after arriving we waited to get on the plane- because we were pushed over from the day before we had stand by tickets- so we waited until everyone was on, so they could see if there would be room for us. Thankfully they handed us two boarding passes so we could get on the long awaited flight. As we walked onto the plane the flight attendant greeted us with bad news- they miss counted and ‘there was no room in the inn’…we had to turn around and walk off the plane to wait another 6 hours for the next flight.
At this time Brea broke down and just started bawling in the airport- it was Christmas Eve and they weren’t going to make it home, regardless the fact that all the gifts were in luggage somewhere in Denver, Boston or New York (we didn’t know) and we didn’t get to shop for each other yet. She just cried and cried, in the middle of the busy airport on Christmas Eve. Ben, the amazing man that he is, got their seats confirmed for the 9:00pm flight and bought her some chocolate ice cream (when ordering he said, “I need the biggest chocolatiest thing you have!”).
So once again it has been 6 hours and our flight is scheduled to leave on time. We have an hour left to wait and then just need to hope that all goes well. Our flight will arrive (if all goes well) at 11:59pm- so we will arrive today (ha). We are just relieved to be going home for Christmas and to be with our families, and we have decided not to travel next Christmas.
