Remembering the Flight Years

Erin sometimes called from the hospital. Those were not good conversations. It required a lot of listening. It meant trying to pick up on the reason behind the call. Several of those stick in my mind. They were the problem calls. Usually involving an attitude. Hers or someone else who made her angry. One sticks in my mind. I can't relate it on here because it involved someone who would recognize themselves. It was really funny to me and eventually during the conversation Erin began to see the humour in the situation.

One call involved a safety problem and it was not funny. Not then and not now. Now, it is a reminder of the problems in the industry, and although she said she would report it, I don't think that happened. I'm afraid that person is still out there, still ignoring warning signs.

Erin's middle of the night calls were of course the worst. My mom was failing, and those 3am calls always created a panic in me. She usually started by jumping right in with the problem, no small talk, so I soon knew it wasn't mom.

I also got the bad date calls. The dates became a source of Christmas letters that friends and family looked forward to each year. I didn't need to read them, I had already lived through her heartache. Now I miss those calls so much.

God's hand was upon Erin for many years. Then one night it all ended.