By Brookshire McDonald
I thought I was being smart
And so you see,
I started planning for Christmas
As early as could be.
With six children
And spouses, too,
There’s a lot of gifting
For me to do.
In addition I have 15 grands
And a brother I love very much.
I think of their personal passions
To keep me well in touch.
With iPad in hand
And thoughts in mind,
I begin my orders
Including one of a kind.
Then I search for flights
To join daughter and family.
Three of my grands are there
Waiting their GeeGee to see.
The month goes by
Sorta fast,
And Christmas Eve has arrived;
‘Tis here at last.
Suitcase gifts from GeeGee
Is a grandma tradition;
So off I go
With this addition.
Arriving at the airport two hours early
As directed,
I soon found an adventure
I had not expected.
I settled in
At my designated gate,
Soon to find out
My plane was late.
I checked the schedule board
As often as I could,
But nothing was improving
As it should.
So there I sat
Hour in and hour out
While passengers
Were mulling all about.
In the meantime I met a couple of men
Waiting for the exact same flight.
The rescuer I am I thought about
Taking them home for the night.
My children I could hear
In the back of my mind,
M-O-T-H-E-R it could not be safe
To be so kind.
Two of my children
Began to text
“Go home; go home
You don’t know what’s next.”
You could get stuck in Orlando
Four days or more
Never making it to Birmingham
That’s for “Shore.”
Spending Christmas with alligators
Was not a good thought,
Because what about my grandchildren
And the gifts I had bought?
Heeding their advice
To the baggage claim I went;
A baggage claim was printed,
And to the handlers was sent.
They retrieved my luggage
Off the cart at the cargo door.
I was lucky to get mine
As there were hundreds more.
At the same time
As I was stuck,
My daughter’s family was in Colorado
Trying their luck.
They were trying
To get home to Birmingham, too
To host
This planned Christmas to-do.
Planes before and after theirs
Were canceled that night;
But a “Board now”
Was announced for their flight.
They arrived home
And crawled into bed
Just before Santa
Appeared on his sled.
After a night of being
All nestled and snug
Christmas morn began by screams of
There’s water coming down on the rug!
The ceiling began to stain
And about to fall,
As water continued to drip
All down the hall.
The water was turned off
To stop the flood;
And thus began Christmas Day
Not as it should.
Back at home
Where I did retrieve
Urgent care was my next step
Back spasms to relieve.
Seven hours sitting at the airport
Had taken its toll
But maybe not as bad as my daughter’s house
Now growing mold.
Yes as I said maybe
It was meant to be;
I was not in the midst
Of their fiasco, you see.
The next week
I did go there
With GeeGee gifts still packed
For grands to share.
I’m sure they were more appreciative
Than alligators would be.
And I hope the two men had as good a late Christmas
As did “me”!
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