Trifter

Last Spring I went to visit my Nephew while he was in the US Army, stationed at Fort Hoof Texas. First I flew into Dallas to stop to see my Sister for a week. I hadn’t seen my Sister or My Nephew in a long time & was very excited about the trip. My Nephew injured himself during physical training & was going to have surgery; so I was going to Texas to help him recover from his surgery.

After I had visited my Sister in Dallas my next stop was Fort Hood. It was just a short flight away & I would be there in about 45 minutes. My Nephew was having some personal problems after his injury & the US Army was trying to discharge him without allowing him to have his surgery. I saw it as he was not able to go with his squad to Afghanistan as was planned, and the Army saw him as no use to them & they were trying to discharge him unfairly.

My Sister dropped me off at DFW airport & I had to run to catch my flight. The Dallas Fort Worth airport is a very large airport. I began running the wrong way & could not find anyone to help direct me to my gate. Finally I ran into a janitor who showed me where I needed to go. I missed the checkpoint for baggage so I had to carry my suitcase on the plane. I had way too many liquids in my suitcase to board the plane. Going through security was pure hell. They kept pulling everything out of my suitcase telling me I was only allowed to take so many ounces of liquids on board the plane. I knew I was minutes away from missing my flight. As the security team rummaged through my luggage I kept telling them “just throw it out”, “throw out anything & everything so I can get to my plane”. I was taking an on-line class at the time & had put my book in the bottom of the suitcase under the cover. I forgot about the book because I was in such a hurry to catch my plane. They sent my suitcase through the scanner at least 15 times & it kept making it beep because the book was wire bound & the machine could pick up the wires but the team couldn’t find them. I understood & did the best to remain calm. After 9/11 security at the airports had changed so much since the last time I had flown. I kept looking at the clock & saw that I was moments away from missing my flight. Finally, one of the security guards had some compassion & she took my suitcase & handed it to me with everything I had in it. She was going to allow me to board the plane with all of my belongings. She begged me not to tell anyone because it would have cost her the job. She directed me where to go to catch my flight.

I ran as fast as I could to get to the gate. I took my shoes off so I could run faster. Finally I made it my gate. There was no one to be found. The air plane was pulling away from the tarmac. I stood in the window jumping up & down & waving my arms begging them not to take off with out me. I began crying & thought for sure I missed my flight. Suddenly a man appeared & asked me if I was so & so. I said “yes”; I was in major panic mode & could barely breathe. I couldn’t believe it; he typed my name in as fast as he could & the plane returned to the tarmac. I have never seen a plane turn around to pick up a passenger; once they leave the tarmac that’s it, it’s taking off.  After he checked me in he opened the gate so I could board the plane. I ran as fast as I could with him behind me. My suitcase was flying all over the place. The man behind me kept telling to calm down but I ignored him & continued to run as fast as I could towards the air plane. Little did I know, he was also boarding the plane.

I stepped into the plane & the stewardess took my suitcase & stored it in a little compartment up front where the captain of the plane had his belongings. I could barely speak & muttered to her “I don’t know where my seat is”. She told me to take whatever seat I wanted. I stood at the front of the plane & looked around. All I saw were a lot of angry people with disgusted looks on their faces. As I scanned the plane for a seat I noticed a man in Army fatigues & thought I will sit next to him. I stuffed my carry on under the seat & was still trying to put on my seat belt & catch my breathe as the plane took off. I was afraid to look up because I felt that everyone on the plane was glaring at me.

After we got in the air I took some deep breathes & regained my sanity. I was glad I chose to sit next to the Army man; he seemed to be the only one on the plane that wasn’t pissed off at me for delaying the flight. After we got settled in I started to talk to him; at first he seemed annoyed as though I would talk about politics or the war. I asked him if he was going to Fort Hood to deploy over seas. He said “no, he had business at the base”. I broke the ice by asking him how long he had been in the Army, if he had children, mostly small talk. After we spoke awhile I discovered that he was a higher ranking officer but didn’t really know much about ranks. I told him the story about my traveling to Fort Hood to help my Nephew recover from his surgery. I told him how the Army was trying to discharge my Nephew without giving him his much needed surgery. He told me who I needed to contact & also offered his cell phone number in case I had any more questions. I thanked him & he asked me if I knew of any good places in Fort Hood to have a beer. I told him “No, this was my first time there”. Then I asked him if he needed a ride because I assumed he was going to be taking a cab after we landed. He smiled at me & said “no, but thanks for asking I have a ride lined up”. I shook his hand before we got off of the the plane & thanked him for his advice.

I got off the plane & there was my Nephew waiting for me. I expected to see him standing there with a big smile & glad to see me. Instead, he had a very puzzled look on his face. I ran up to him & gave him a hug; the Army man was walking behind me & I told my Nephew I wanted him to meet my new friend, the man I sat next to on the plane. His name was Tim, so I introduced Tim to my Nephew. They talked a bit & I noticed my Nephew was standing straight as a board & every other word out of his mouth was “Yes Sir”.

We were walking out of the airport & my Nephew looked like he just a saw a ghost. He kept asking me if I had any clue as to who the man was. I told him “Yes, his name is Tim & he’s some Army dude I sat next to on the plane. He gave me his cell phone number & said he can help so you can have your surgery”. When we reached the car my Nephew was trembling & he kept muttering to me “do you have any idea as to who that was”? Then he proceeded to ask me if I had noticed the big star on the mans uniform. I told him “no, I almost missed my flight & I just saw some guy in Army clothes & thought he looked like a cool guy to sit next to”. My Nephew told me that Tim was a Four Star General & a Four Star General is a very high ranking officer in the military. By the stars on his uniform his next ranking was the highest ranking for a General. We laughed & my Nephew said that when I came walking up with Tim he didn’t know what to do since he was in civilian clothes; he didn’t know whether to salute the General or what.

My Nephew laughed so hard that I had sat next to such a top ranking officer & didn’t have a clue. I told him that I spoke to Tim the entire way there & asked his advice about the surgery. I told him I had cursed a few times while talking to Tim about the way the Army was treating him. I told him I asked him if he needed a ride. My Nephew laughed & said “believe me Aunt Mary he has a ride, the Generals have everything & anything they need”. When I told my Nephew I got his cell phone number he didn’t believe me. He pulled the car over & I showed him where I programmed it into my cell phone. I assured my Nephew that Tim was going to help us to make sure he got his surgery. My Nephew was so happy & so shocked. We sat up all night talking about it & many other things we needed to catch up on.

God works in mysterious ways. I believe I was late for my plane for a purpose. I believe that God had me sit next to Tim for a purpose. We did call Tim & he directed us to higher officials to make sure my Nephew was taken care of. My Nephew was very sad that he did not get to go on his last tour of duty to Afghanistan. I told my Nephew that God does work in mysterious ways & maybe it wasn’t meant to be.