Silas and I made the flight back to West Virginia this past Monday, and I was nervous about flying by myself with Bitty Boy. Silas had done well on our flight in June, but now that he’s walking, I wasn’t sure that he’d sit still for four hours.

Stephen was able to drive me to the airport, so that spared me the trouble of parking and hauling the luggage on and off the shuttle. As it was, I had my hands so full that it was all I could do to walk. I strapped Silas to me, carried the diaper bag on my shoulder and pulled a suitcase and laptop bag with one hand and a suitcase and an umbrella stroller with the other.

The line for Southwest was long. As soon as I stepped in line, a fellow passenger took one look at me and said, “You’re very brave.” I heard someone else mutter, “How is she doing that?”  I was so happy to finally make it to the ticket counter and check my bags.

While waiting for my flight, I grabbed lunch at the Burger King nearest my gate. Three middle aged men were eating there too and struck up a conversation—with Silas as an obvious starting point. These guys had come out from Pittsburgh and Johnstown to cheer on the Steelers in the Steelers vs. Cardinals game last week. They were super nice and adopted Silas and me for the entire flight. They sat with us, held Silas for me, carried my luggage and entertained Baby with their DVDs of Steelers Super Bowl games. (Most everybody on the plane was wearing Steelers gear.)

After landing, Silas had an entourage to escort him to Grandma’s open arms. I took him downstairs in the elevator, while my three traveling companions used the escalator. They actually found Mom and asked, “Are you looking for Elisabeth?” I’m sure she was surprised to have three total strangers giving her an update on her grandson!

Grandma and Grandpa came to greet their little grandbaby and to take us the two hours south to Fairmont. What a long day, but what a surprise to have new friends help along the way!