A heartfelt thank you to strangers

The 18-seat commuter plane to Toronto, November 25

A deep, heartfelt thank you to Judy, who chatted with me while waiting to board that little plane to Toronto. You kept me distracted when I needed it! I hope your flight home to the Sudbury area was a safe one.

To Heather (blue sleeve on far right), who offered to hold my hand on takeoff, because you saw the tears were rolling down my face, out of fear, in spite of the two Ativan I had taken in only 12 hours. I was grateful for that hand! I hope the visit with your brother in Calgary goes well and that your travels are safe too.

 

 You can see the blur of motion from the propellers on the far right.

Over greater Toronto, heading for Pearson Airport.

 

 

To the older gentleman I sat beside on the Toronto-Halifax leg: Thank you for chatting with me and keeping my mind occupied. You, too, don't fly well and so understood how I felt. I hope your short stint to Halifax for work went smoothly--as well as your flight back to Toronto.

Flying over New Brunswick and the tip of Nova Scotia, heading into Halifax.

 

To Denise and Peter, who were in my row on the flight from Halifax to Toronto: Thank you both for the conversation! Denise, thank you for holding my hand on take-off. I hope your long-awaited, first-time luxury river cruise in Germany is fantastic. Enjoy Vienna too! What an incredible 60th birthday gift for you, Denise. Good luck to your son and daughter-in-law, I hope they find work in Halifax and are able to move back soon, so you can have your family all together. I know you're eager to have your two very young grandsons nearby!

Waiting to board our plane in Halifax.

Our plane home, the small 18-seater again, from Toronto.

To the older couple ahead of me, who, with about 10 minutes to spare, had to run from one end of the terminal in Toronto to the other, to make your flight home, thank you for checking on me! I was pretty much hyperventilating on take-off, no hand to hold, but I so appreciate that you turned around asked how I was doing, once we leveled off at cruising altitude. Yeah, I bawled even harder with this flight than the first one, but you didn't see that.

Seeing the ground was interesting, but it was scarier for me too.

This little plane flies at 16,000 ft up.

 

 

 

 

 

A huge thank you to the pilots and co-pilots who made all four flights safe. Landing in our city was dicey yesterday, it was pea soup until we got really close to the ground. 

And with deep gratitude to the Fates/gods/goddesses/universe, that dying in a horrific plane crash wasn't in the cards. May it never be.

Peace.