Post

This past weekend fell far short of my expectations.

My sister, Elayne, and her boyfriend, Will, were supposed to come visit me in Austin. They bought their tickets months in advance. I planned out our itinerary. I borrowed, inflated, and dressed an air mattress. I hung up tapestries and scarves over the windows of the "guest room" since the only mature adult home dweller has left and took her curtains with her. I went against all known habits and packed my suitcase to NY a week before departure. We even bought tickets to do yoga at the local cat cafe. My sister is a yogi, a cat mom, and a vet-to-be, so you can imagine her excitement about this event.

On Saturday morning, Elayne and Will drove to the airport. They waited and waited, hoping against more delays, until the icy weather canceled their flight. These are savvy travelers and problem-solving people, so they shrugged it off and got on another flight later in the day. On 0-2 hours of sleep, they waited, and, somewhat less patiently, waited again. Their second flight was canceled. With confidence, they booked themselves on a flight the next day and drove back to Will's apartment to catch up on much needed rest and sanity. The next day, they drove to the airport again, and waited, and sent me text messages of increasing annoyance, and waited some more. Their third flight was canceled. They braved the swarms of irritated travelers and resisted urges to cuss out customer service employees, and were rewarded with spots on the list of stand by passengers headed to San Antonio later that night. After another day spent at Newark Airport, they stood at the gate, eager to find out if two empty seats would miraculously appear. They didn't. One did, and, like any kind and loving sister, I told Elayne to send Will on his own. He was most excited about good barbecue and breakfast tacos, which are far more scarce in this world than cats and yoga.

So, instead of putting in more hours on hold and in long lines, they decided not to risk another day in the airport for a one day visit to Austin, and I cannot blame them. I laid in bed, rolled around on my fascia-releasing tune up balls, drew cartoon pictures of pugs, and did all the stuff I normally do if I have extra free time when carefully drawn out activities go to waste. Sometimes our longest awaited visits and our most planned out fun never comes to be. The three of us counted our blessings, them building a stronger bond and having time to visit the tree at Rockefeller Center, and me going to cat yoga by myself. Then we started counting the few days til Christmas week when we would all be together again.

I can only hope that your winter travels go much more smoothly than theirs. Happy holidays to all!