Flight 1976

The flight listed in the title of this Blog was almost a headline... thank heavens it was not. Let me explain. Brad and I had to take two different flights home on two different days because we couldn't all get on the same flight. To try and make things fair I took London, Rock and Rhett, and Brad took Drake with him. It may not sound like it, but trust me, that was the best way to split it. It was going to be a long day with three different planes and two plane changes. We first went to Albuequerque, then headed to Atlanta. This was the flight that was the most frightening experience of my life. Right after take-off we hit some serious turbulence. It was making the plane jerk back and forth really bad. I wasn't nervous at first because I'm okay with flying and understand that turbulence happens. But it kept going and going. The side to side turned into up and down. The kind of ups and downs that makes people gasp. My clueless boys started cheering, "That one felt just like Tower of Terror! So did that one! Mom it's just like we're on Tower of Terror." They were right, that's what it felt like. This had been going on for at least 5 minutes and I could tell there was panic on the plane. The plane then started dropping again and again without stopping. I heard some sobbing and whimpering throughout the plane and knew I wasn't the only one starting to wonderif this is what it felt like... "Mom, did you feel that? That's called Zero Gravity! That means we went DOWN! Did you feel that mom, Doooowwwn, Doooowwn, Doooown! Zero Gravity!" I counted 7 large drops in a row in about 15 seconds. With every drop the boys would cheer, "Dooooowwwn!" They just weren't getting it and I didn't stop them because they were having so much fun that if we were about to die, I'd rather them not know it. I started shaking because this had been going on for almost 10 minutes and was getting worse. I had London clutched to my chest and felt tears come to my eyes, but I kept a big smile on for the boys. Some nervous male college students were sitting next to us and despite their obvious concern, they were entertained by the boys excitement. The panic on the plane became more and more obvious and I couldn't even remember how to pray I was so scared, the only words that would come into my head were, "Heavenly Father, please keep this plane in the air. Please keep this plane in the air..."
"Doooooowwwwnnnn! Wahooo! Tower of Terror!!!"
"Please keep this plane in the air, please keep this plane in the air..."
I bet several of those little white bags in the seat pockets were used that day and some people probably made some serious decisions to change in life if they were to live. I have never had the feeling before that this could be the end, and that my husband and 2-year-old would get such a phone call and have to go on without us. It made me sad, but there is always some peace in knowing what comes next. It helped me realize I do know where we go and the comfort this knowledge brings. It also helped me understand more about my husbands fear of flying, and that he has that feeling of panic everytime he gets on a plane. I haven't been turned off of flying from the 10 minutes on the Flight of Terror, but I will never forget it either.