My First Time

My first time on an airplane I was around 13.  My mom and step dad took my brother and I to Disney World.  My mom bought me an entire new summer wardrobe for the trip. I packed it all carefully, keeping all items for each day together - I was anal retentive even as a child.

We had taken vacations prior to this trip, but this was the first airport needed mode of transportation vacation.  As soon as I boarded, I was in love with air travel. My mom always said she can't take me anywhere without me seeing someone I know, and crossing state lines was no exception.  I saw a girl I knew from softball, Jessica something.  It was a great vacation, and the one where the phrase "you got a mouse in your pocket?" was coined by my step dad whenever my mom said "we".  My brother and I use this phrase to this day.

A little over a decade later, I had a child.  As I had written in my graduate school application essay, I needed to work hard in order to provide the same, let alone better, for my child.  I want him to experience all life has to offer and expand his boarders: his understanding of different cultures, his understanding of different socioeconomic settings.  I could write an entire blog about what I want for him. Maybe stay tuned for that one...or those five...

Yesterday, I booked our air travel for Gabriel's first trip via air.  We are going to San Diego.  We wanted to do something special for his10th birthday.  I can't believe he is 10 already. While he did not get a new wardrobe, he did get a new suitcase, a big kid suitcase - one he will hopefully use on many more airport needed vacations. I hope by 13, one he will earn a passport stamp for, a stamp from a country not on our continent.

Today, Gabriel and I were discussing our trip.  We broke out maps so he could see exactly where he was going.  We have a connecting flight in Atlanta, an airport I visit frequently, but a city I have never actually visited.  Gabriel asked if we could stay a night, and I said not this time, but in my head I was thinking what a great trip it would make, some day, a stop over on our way to my beloved Savannah.

Gabriel went on to play on the chalkboard that was mine when I was a child.  He is making a list of superpowers. If only he knew...he is my superpower, my motivation every day.