Sky High Encounter

I survived...barely.
18 hours of work in one day.
Charlotte to Cincinnati to Pittsburgh to Atlanta to Charlotte.
Departed at 4:30 am and returned at 11 pm.
It was the first day where I did not get to nurse Asher at least once in a 24 hour period.
I pumped in airport and client bathrooms, on the go, stressed for time.
Yuck. Stressful. So not a fan.
I was that girl pulling 20+ ounces of milk out of my purse for inspection at airport security.
I have to say I was pretty proud of myself.
"Where is the baby ma'am?" The security agent asked me.
"At home..." Trying to hold back a tear.

I couldn't wait to get home to my boys the minute I walked out the door that morning.
Once I arrived in Pittsburgh the endorphins died down and my body started shutting down. I was tired, hungry and a migraine was slowly creeping its way into my head. I left the office with my client to walk to a "nearby" restuarant. 4 blocks later in the freezing cold, we entered a restaurant which smelled like it has been freshly painted. Bad news. The migraine got worse...When I arrived back onsite to finish my afternoon of meetings I did everything I could to not throw up on my client in the meetings. The client was located in downtown Pittsburgh. The building arrangement required you to ride up and down different elevators to get to different offices all in the same company. The pressure of the elevator from riding up to the 33rd floor back down, walk to another elevator and up to the 5th floor, back down, walk to another elevator and ride back up to the 31st floor was KILLING my migraine. I finally asked the receptionist for some tylenol because I couldnt take it. It took the edge off and allowed me to function for another hour before I left for the airport to make the journey back home.

On my first flight home I was so stressed about making my 30 minute connection to my second flight. It was the last flight out for the night so I was taking a huge risk. My head was still pounding and my back was throbbing in pain.

I was sitting next to a grey haired older man who was reading and writing in the bible almost the entire hour flight. About 20 minutes before we landed he turned to me and asked me if I needed someone to pray for me. I am sure he could see I looked stressed. I initially declined but then thought...the more praying for me the merrier, YES! We ended up engaged in conversation the remainder of the flight. I am 100% convinced that this man was placed by g-d to sit next to me on this flight. After an extremely long stressful day he was exactly what I needed.

Henry is a minister. Henry is a physician at a psychiatric hospital. Henry is an angel.
Henry knew I was Jewish before I even opened my mouth. Amazing?! Henry loves Israel and the Jewish people. Henry and I talked for the rest of the flight until the minute we stepped of the plane. Henry and I exchanged contact information before we deboarded the plan. He and his daughter wrote and produced a play about Esther that he really wanted to share with me. I received the following email the day after I returned home. It brought about the biggest smile to my face. G-d is so very good.

Dear Renee,
I enjoyed talking with you on the airplane from Pittsburgh to Atlanta yesterday. As I mentioned, I am sending a DVD copy of The Book of Esther, a musical play I wrote, based on the Biblical Book of Esther. I am also enclosing a CD of the songs, as the DVD is a live recording, and the quality of the music, though good, is not as good as the CD made in a recording studio. I hope you and your family enjoy the play. I know Asher is a little young now, but maybe he will enjoy it later. If you like it and want to show it to others, you have my permission, as the owner, to show it to groups and even at the synagogue if you desire. If you want to preview some of the music, go to www.thebookofesther.net. My daughter, Amber directed it, but she does not appear in the play. If you want to see her, check out her website at www.ambergaineymeade.com. By the way, Amber’s best friend is Maia Rosenfeld. Her stage name is Maia Madison. They were classmates at Northwestern University. Maia helped us in the production. She had some great suggestions. We used her eyes in the program, and on the scroll on the website. Maia is also a photographer, and took Amber’s headshots on Amber’s web page.
It was a delight to meet you. Your Synagogue, Temple Beth-El, sounds like a vibrant, exciting place. Say hello to your husband, Philip, for me. God bless you and your family.
Henry

Although my trip took a toll on me emotionally, physically and mentally...
This Sky High Encounter made it all worth it.