Yesterday afternoon, I dropped my Dad off at the airport and we said our goodbyes. I told him I would see him soon. I had no idea how right I was.
Within the hour, my Dad called me from the terminal to tell me his flight was delayed, and that he would miss his connecting flight. There were no employees at the gate. And he had already passed Customs and Immigration, so he was technically on U.S. soil and I could not get to him. I told him to stay put and I would call him right back.
I called the airline, and they confirmed what I had already seen online: there were no more connecting flights available to him, and he would be stranded at the airport until the next day. So I pleaded and begged, and was able to cancel his ticket and have a new one reissued for today. But since his boarding pass had already been scanned at Immigrations, the agent had to contact the airport to nullify his boarding pass. She could not, however, get in touch with anyone to help Dad out of the terminal.
So I called Dad back on his cell, and guided him to the first employee he could find - who refused to talk to me. I instructed my Dad to tell them he was booked on another flight and needed to be escorted back into Canada so we could pick him up at the airport. Hubby, who was home sick, was sent to pick him up while I went to get Kerri at the school bus stop.
When Kerri got off her bus, I told her I had a surprise coming. She said she knew what the surprise was. She told me: "Grandpa went home, fed Kitty, and is back to visit us." I told her that was impossible, since it would take too long for Grandpa to fly to Florida and back in such a short time. But she insisted that Grandpa would be home. And as she headed to our front door, Grandpa came walking up the front entrance, wheeling his luggage. Kerri yelled "Grandpa!", ran to hug him, and then turned around and told me: "I told you so!".
We had one more fabulous day with Grandpa, and this morning I took him back to the airport to return home. What a wonderful way to start the new year - Shana Tova! I told my Dad as we hugged goodbye that I would see him soon - but this time, not until December.
Life with Kerri is full of surprises.