It was a WOW moment

Yeah Jeana!!!!!! I am doing the happy dance for you dance: Alli

Dear Jean, Thanks for reminding me of a long thread of WOW moments that I now so take for granted! Because I travel all around the country as one of OH's motivational speakers, I can tell y'all (all y'all, actually!) that not only being normal sized, but PHYSICALLY FIT makes allllll the difference between having a decent flying experience and a hellatious one. A few weeks ago I got to Atlanta's Hartsfield airport with over 90 min. to spare for my flight to Austin. Given that it was mid-morning (most biz travellers try to fly out before 10AM) on a gorgeous day I didn't anticipate problems. No lines at curbside check-in with an hour to spare and I breezed into the terminal, which looked properly light. Turned the corner into the Atrium, crossed through it and down another corridor into the gateway to security and - BAM! I was looking at Ellis Island, circa 1906! I mean it was wall-to-wall folks. By the time I reached the baggage tables, where you BEGIN to slide your carryon, shoes, coat, laptop, etc. it was :30min to my flight's departure time. I spoke up & asked if anyone else had to make a 10:45AM flight? Heads snapped around to stare at me - and then the MIRACLE happened: people started letting me go in front of them, sliding their plastic tubs out of the way and motioning me through. I had 20 min.l to spare as I gathered up my stuff, slipped on my "mules" and RAN to the escalators leading to the trains. Got off at my concourse and walked up the UP escalator and I had 10 min. to go. Technically, Delta can re-assign my seat if I'm not at the gate :10 before the printed departure time. I began to run, RUN, down concourse C to my gate, the one on the verrrrrrry end (of course!). There was no line to get on the plane, just about everybody was already inside, except for the folks at the counter - the Standby's waiting to see who wouldn't show up... I sailed past the attendant and came to a screeching halt - no skywalk into the plane! Instead, a flight of steps down to the tarmac, a dash across the runway of about 25-30 feet and up a ramp into this tiny plane. I collapsed into my seat after hoisting my 35-lb suitcase into the overhead bin and asked the attendant, "Where did all those people in Security come from?" Turns out they were allllll the folks whose flights had been canceled the day before due to snowstorms up the Eastcoast and Great Lakes. I promise you, 4 years ago, literally, I would have missed my flight because there was no way my size 3X body would be capable of getting me to the gate on time. Now I live in a body that is on my team: strong enough to help me get where I need to go; as opposed to the adversary it used to be, the obstacle that I had to creatively plan around or overcome , when I wasn't totally ignoring her and living "up in my head." Plus, on the tiny planes I've been flying to places like Austin and Sacramento, even the lavatories have been downsized. I realized that 4 years ago, or if I'd been in my last trimester of pregnancy, I might not have fit inside the door. Honest. It was set up so that the door opened in and you were facing a wall; you had to step in and turn left and move away from the door to get inside. This is not a problem in a size 8 body. Weird, but not a problem. So keep on losing the excess pounds, my brothers and sisters, but also focus on becoming STRONG and FIT, so you can really enjoy living in your body! All the best, Lauralyn