I'd like to begin this contribution by recommending that you not fly Delta airlines. That's how I would have begun if I had written this two weekends ago. After all, they booked us on three separate flights all of which were cancelled before sending us somewhere besides where we needed to go. It all worked out in the end, but the beginning and middle were fairly annoying. Delta is a problem airline.
That's what I'd have said before I flew again the following weekend. Then I'd have added that United isn't a great idea either. Three flights booked, three flights cancelled, home a day late (though not a dollar short if you're comforted by $72 worth of meal vouchers). I might also have suggested that you avoid any trip that takes you through Dulles airport. It makes Midway seem effecient and organized.
At that point I could have gone on to tell you about how I finally lost it and chewed out a helpless flight attendant for everything that was keeping me away from home. I could have shared how the Nathan's hot dog guy got a punch to the face when he said my meal voucher didn't cover two hot dogs. But someone saved me from all that. Her name was Lorraine Controis.
I should begin by telling you that her last name is pronounced Cohn-twah and not Cahn-troys. She'd want you to know that. She is very proud of her last name. After all, a very loving and supporting husband of some 60 years gave her that name. And that loving and supporting husband passed away that week. And my first interaction with Lorraine was when my wife, Rachel, heard her say "I'm lost, will someone please help me."
Someone did, and that someone was helped by Lorraine as much as Lorraine was helped by him. For the next 36 hours, Lorraine stuck to me like glue. She told stories of family and of her husband, she tried not to cry and cried anyway and we held hands and cried together. She used my cell phone to call home and I made sure she stayed at the same hotel as we did when it looked like we'd be spending the night outside Washington D.C.
In the end, Lorraine got home just fine, and we were relieved to get the phone call that assured us of that. In the beginning and middle, Lorraine's lostness helped to remind me what was really important. We formed a little community and we kept each other from getting further lost along the way.
Today I thank God for cancelled flights and for people like Lorraine Controis. I thank God for her husband's legacy of kindness that inspires me to love my wife even more. I thank God for opportunities to help the lost and reminders that I am not lost, I have simply lost focus. I thank God for little communities and the help that they provide. I thank God for His Son, Jesus, who showed us to "look not only to our own interests, but also the interests of others." I thank Him for showing me that is the only way to live.
So fly the friendly skies, folks. And make sure to keep them friendly.
