April 20,2014 Easter Sunday of this year was the wedding of my lovely daughter Sarah Jean to Shawn Frye of Zephyrhills, Florida. It was a beautiful and loving ceremony. I was so proud to walk down the idle with this self made woman. She is not only a beautiful woman but she excels at everything she does. She is a valuable commodity. Her true value is yet to be seen but you can be sure it will be well earned. Any man would be proud to be married to Sarah. This boy she married is rough around the edges and at first glance you might wonder if he is up to the task but he is intelligent and he is around the same age I was when I finally was ready to take the bull by the horns. I like him and I think he has enough gentleman in him that I dont have to worry about him not protecting her. I have know doubt and that is good to know. So I am happy to have Shawn Frye as my son-in-law. I know he will make me proud. I left San Antonio early Friday morning. Thanks to Billy Carlisle for getting up at 4:30 am and getting me to the airport on time. I havent been on a plane for maybe 20 years. The last time I flew on an airplane of any significance or even not any significance for that matter, you werent allowed to smoke I remember but they didnt have all of this other stuff. But I have to tell you, did I luck out. We got to the airport in plenty of time and it was already packed. I have learned you have to be prepared when going to an airport in a city with a lot of people. Most of them might show up at the airport at the same time. It was Easter Weekend and everyone was going home or somewhere at least. There were a millions cars too so I jumped out of the car as soon as I could and just waved goodbye as Billy was maneuvering to squeeze out. Thank you, Billy. The lines were outside. So I thought. This is where my luck started and it followed me all weekend. I got at the end of the line outside and a young man behind me says. You should see the lines inside. What do you mean I asked. He said I would never go in there. In this line you give the guy $5 if you want. You dont have to give them anything but thats not nice. They are doing us a good service. I said, Oh Really? And what kind of service might that be? These are sky caddies. Theyre out here to check you in. They take your bag and get it on the airplane. Really? I said, with an ever increasing smile. I had stepped into this line and learned the world of the airport. Here I was, about 6th in line. If I would have just gone inside and got in line it would have taken a heck of a long time. The next step was even harder for me to believe. Both going and coming. But leaving was special. I would really like to ask you to watch for something. If you dont ride Southwest or very often, the next time you print out your boarding pass see if you are exempt from a security check. I was. Unbelievable, Im stumbling through this airport like a half awake sailor. I already am happy to have lucked out with the check-in, so when I get to the long, long, long security check line, a lady employee is going up and down the line looking at boarding passes. I dont know why I just follow orders. So when she got to me you must realize how surprised I was when she said, “Thats your line over there, sir. You have an exemption”. I was put in the line with the frequent fliers and I was in my seat at the gate in no time at all. You lucky dog, you. It was written right on my boarding pass ; Tsa pre or something like that. But it means come on down, youre the next contestant on the Price is Right. Johnny, tell them what theyve won. I ask someone about this and they said its random. Im not sure what that means. Does a terrorist have the same chance as me? I dont think so. There is definitely some search criteria that has scanned all the variables and dubbed me as safe. Call it what you wish. I think it works pretty good. (big smile). So, all that being said I think it might be a come on from southwest to get my attention the next time I fly. You know, heres one on the house. So, if you would help me test this theory, the next time you fly for the first time in a while let me know if you got a bonus. The trip started like that and stayed like that the whole time. Well, not the whole time. We went to the casinos on the last night and the good luck had worn off, apparently. The end of this weekend tale will verify that. I got there in the late morning. First we stopped in Nashville. It was a nice little jaunt from San Antonio. Not up in the air too long. The second part to Tampa is the same thing. In Nashville, I was going on so I didnt have to get off the plane. I was sitting over the wing so when the lady said we could move, I moved up some. I was sitting there looking out the window watching the baggage handlers taking the luggage off for those changing planes. Aha, I caught a screw-up. A boo-boo I have called it. The bags were coming out too fast. Like I Love Lucy and the chocolate cover cherries or marsh mellows. One bag fell off and came open at the top and stuff fell out. The guy reached under the thingy and dragged the bag out with things hitting the ground. He has to reach back down and stuff these things back into the bag. I dont know if he got it all or not. Well, it happen pretty fast and it wasnt quite as bad as Ive made it sound, so I didnt taddle. Those people may or may not notice. That night I met the in laws. I was treated like a member of the family. They welcomed me into their home and had a room and food and tv and just everything. I enjoyed myself thoroughly. On Friday we went up north to a town called Homosassa to visit Sharon Rapp and her mother, Mrs. Collisimo and Sharons terrific daughter, Betsy. We had a good time. We looked at all of the yearbooks for high school and pointed you all out and made fun of you. Yust kiddddddding!!! We played the Charleroi songs. The food was more than good, it was exquisite. Ill let Sharon tell you all the dishes but the Egg roll type item was superb. And kiesh. Lord has mercy. My luck was just getting better all the time. The next night we all went to the Moose club and had a great time. Me and Sarah got to karaoke and everyone had a good time. A lot of good voices. Then the wedding on Sunday. After me and Sarah, Shawn, Shawns daughter Alexandria, Sharon her mom and Betsy went to a beautiful upscale restaurant sitting on the edge of Tampa Bay. Spectacular. That night was as much good luck as one guy can have straight in a row and sadly it came to an end. But the good luck had come at the right time and lasted for the right amount. Some might not call that luck. In any case, if something other than luck was involved they already know how appreciative I am. The casinos were great but cold hearted. Back to normal and it stayed that way all the way up to the writing of this story. There was still good luck involved. My friends came through over and above the call of duty. Jeff my boss at Carlisles Auto Air parts and repair had one of the drivers come and pick me up at the airport and bring me to the shop (and he didnt even ask me to go to work for the rest of the day :) ). Then my great niece Catie was late and headed to college, (shes a licensed fireman and is studying to also work as paramedic. She rode me down to where I could make bus connections from there. Then I got three buses from there. You see, there was some good in there but it sure wasnt like having someone waiting for you. Nobody was available and Im a grown man so I can take it. Maybe I should have more friends lol. So it wasnt all bad. It really is mostly normal but when youve had such a streak of good luck normal almost seems like bad luck for a while. There you have it. Blow by blow from the eye of the beholder. I thoroughly enjoyed every minute. And that, as they say, is that!
Posted on: Mon, 21 Apr 2014 23:01:21 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015