Out of Time

I was moved by Mary O’Keefe’s summary of the funeral service of former CV Town Council member Charlie Beatty (you can find her summary in her column across from this one). She urged that each of us spends more time with those we love, our family and friends – a sobering message.

Steve and I couldn’t go to Charlie’s funeral service; on Friday we were on a plane.

Well, we were supposed to be on a plane.

We were headed east and I had booked a non-stop flight for us – the only one offered by our airline – out of LAX. But we arrived about four minutes later than the 45-minute cutoff time and we couldn’t check our luggage.

Thankfully, the gate person was able to re-route us and we left about 45 minutes after our initial flight took off, though we did have a layover. 

This was the first time that I had ever missed a flight and it definitely was not an experience I want to repeat.

Perhaps to “even the score,” on Tuesday night Steve was supposed to head back home. He too had a non-stop flight. He arrived in plenty of time to make the flight but alas it was delayed due to mechanical issues. Then it was canceled outright with passengers given a voucher to stay at a nearby hotel. They were told to return the next morning for a 7:30 a.m. non-stop flight. He texted me to come get him (which I did), but due to obligations I couldn’t drive him to the airport the next morning. So he booked a ride-share service to get him to the airport – which it did, in plenty of time.

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Friday was also the 25th anniversary of the terrorist attacks in New York City, the Pentagon in Washington and a field in Pennsylvania. As is customary, the CV Chamber of Commerce and the Early Rodders hosted a Patriot Day motorcade throughout the Valley. The primary purposes were to thank our local first responders and acknowledge the deaths of the 3,000-plus people who perished on 9/11/01.

Because I was out of town, I wasn’t able to attend the motorcade; however, I do recall how moving the motorcade is, especially seeing the many students who gather outside their schools to commemorate the occasion. Contrary to knowing exactly where I was when the Towers fell, these students weren’t even alive when the attacks happened – yet they are outside their schools, thanking our first responders (many of whom respond to local wildfires) and remembering the horror that was 9/11/01.

I join their voices in saying “thank you” to our first responders.