Houston, we have lift off

My mom is 87 y/o, soon to be 88.  She's an active, independent senior citizen who maintains a social schedule that few half her age could handle.  Her hobbies include golfing, playing cards, bingo and her current passion - dancing.  She's adventurous - never hesitates jumping on the back of a Harley or onto a wave runner. 

It took a while to convince her to fly to Houston, Texas to visit my brother and sister-in-law as she didn't want to miss her Thursday and Saturday evening outings to dance to her favorite country band.  Saturday, my brother, sister-in-law and I drove her to the St. Louis airport for a flight to Houston.  St. Louis isn't the closest airport to us but I picked it because I wanted her to have an easy, direct flight which Southwest offers from that airport.

At the airport, we get her, her huge suitcase and her golf clubs checked in and I get a security pass so I can escort her to her gate.   Before we go through security, we stop and ask a SW pilot who happened to be standing near us, what exactly the numbers on her boarding pass mean (I never fly Southwest..so I wasn't quite sure what A 37 meant).  Turns out it means she is in the first group to board at #37.  He explains their new boarding process.  Because some of my co-workers fly SW, I knew the key was checking in exactly 24 hrs before the flight to ensure you aren't last to board.  We thank the pilot for explaining the process...my mom tells him he's really good-looking....I'm surprised she didn't invite him to go dancing.

I ask my mom if she has any liquids in her carry on...she assures me she doesn't.  I decide to go through the bag anyway and sure enough, several large items...lotion, toothpaste etc.  We get those sorted out and head to the security line.  That was pretty non-eventful except I was wearing an Illini sweatshirt (we were playing in the Big 10 Championship game that afternoon)...and the TSA agent asks if I could take it off (its bulky and it was a ligitimate question).  I say, "well I can take it off as long as you promise I won't get arrested for indecent exposure".  First time I've ever made a TSA agent blush. Shoes, off, liquids out, we get through.

I have to say the people at Southwest were really friendly and helpful (I can't always say that about all the other airlines I fly).  We were about an hour early and I was hesitant to leave her at the gate by herself....honestly, she has never met a stranger and I envisioned her getting side-tracked by a conversation with someone and totally missing  the boarding announcement.  We went over the process again.  Still nervous I asked the gate agent what she should listen for in terms of the numbering system.  He says "how old is she?".  When he hears her age, he says "let's give her a priority boarding pass and she can get on first".  Not only was that great news,  they also have a great set up in that they put these passengers in seats right next to the jet bridge entryway. 

I explain to her that she gets to pick whatever seat she wants.  I advise she not sit in bulkhead as she'd have a hard time getting her carry-on in the overhead storage area (she's 5'2" ).   In the meantime, she's in a conversation with another elderly lady  - mom saying "I hope an interesting/good-looking guy sits next to me."  The other lady says, "if he does, I'm going to trade you seats".  I walked away thinking "that's my mom".

2 hours later we get confirmation from my niece, Wendy, that Grandma arrived safe and sound. 

I'm hoping she has a grand time in Houston ...I'm also hoping I have her gene pool!!!!