The following is part four of a four part series that was nominated for the AOL 2005 VIVI award best individual or series of entries. My buddy Tilly won this award.

back from the abyss
Hail the conquering hero!!!! I have returned. All is right with the world now, Holly has her makeup back!
I made the 160 mile round trip to and from the airport this afternoon….exactly how I want to spend my afternoon! @@
At the lost luggage counter I bonded with Shirley. We laughed tovgether about my poor daughter’s adventure in airline hell and “Simon”. She agrees that “Simon” is a loser if he can’t understand me. Well after much searching and I mean MUCH, she found Holly’s lost luggage claim under a pile of totally unrelated paperwork. Well that would explain why her claim was not in the system when she tried to look it up in the computer…it was never entered!…Which means IF the bag was found it would have never been delivered to our home, nor would we have been contacted that it was found.
Shirley still had faith that Holly’s bag would be found. She takes me into “the back” where all checked bags go and where the lost bags go. Stepping into that warehouse-like room only further cemented my resolve to never check bags when I fly (I haven’t in over 4 years). This huge, cavernous room is STUFFED with rows and rows of bags either waiting to be claimed or to be placed on a plane somewhere. She takes me through this place to the outside where carts are lined up next to a large truck. In the carts are lost bags that have not been claimed awaiting transport to a warehouse ten miles north of the airport…..”Oh God, let it be here, please!”…
Of course, the bag is not on any of these carts. We head back into the warehouse where she explains as we walk up and down the rows of assorted luggage, that Holly’s bag most likely will not be here but we should look anyway. Then, there it was!!! Last row, last suitcase in the row….Holly’s bag!…”God is good!”, is what Shirley exclaimed….”Yes, He is!”, I agreed. Shirley comments that my little girl will be so happy to have her things back and I agree….especially the makeup bag!
So I return home with her bag. What do I receive as a reward for my wasted day and wasted gas…..a big smile, a quick hug and complaints because I didn’t carry it in from the garage. ….I do love that girl….I do, I do….yes I do!!!
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just a quick note….I changed my journal’s name because, well, the more I thought about it, I feel like a master juggler with all the hats I wear and all the things I do around here. Today is a good example. I think it suits me better