Going Home

When it was clear to G that I was serious about not staying in Germany even an hour after he left, he made another request. But, not to me. He wrote to both families with the request that they not visit us or see J till he got home. He also asked R.B. to find us an apartment to be ready when I got there. For me to wait in with our son, alone, with no visitors till he could be there. His family honored his request. My family did not.

I was to fly home. The Army was sending G back on a Navy Ship. His trip would take about 9 days. Plus a day or so in N.J. to get his paperwork and muster out of the service. And then his drive home in the V.W. Bug that he had managed to get on the same ship that brought him home. Approximately 2 weeks after I arrived.

I still have vivid memories of that flight home from Frankfort. It was about a week after Thanksgiving. The plane was absolutely full of other G.I. wives and their children, mostly babies. They were not all short timers either. A lot of them were just going home for Christmas visits and would be returning. It made me realize just how selfish my husband was being. Understandable that he would want what he did, but selfish that he would actually expect it. (Try to demand it.)

There were so many babies on that flight, the Stewardesses were overwhelmed. A request was made over the P.A. system, before we even took off, for us to help ourselves to what the babies might need from the Galley. Water, juice, bottles warmed, whatever. We were on our own.

That is a long flight with an infant or toddler. J was now just over 9 months old, and very close to walking alone. He did not want to sit still on my lap. And, he was past the long nap stage. And, we were flying backward in time. We left Germany around 3 P.M., which would be 9 A.M. in mid-Ohio. J had taken his nap in the car on the way to Frankfort, and he was ready for action. There was too much action and excitement on that plane home to make him drowsy again.

They had spread us out as much as possible and once we were in the air they gave us permission to trade seats. So that passengers without children could find seats together and not have their flight quite so disrupted. It was almost like some kind of riot in the air. The couple in the seat in front of us were young newlyweds on their way back home after their honeymoon. She was wearing a fancy (ridiculous) hat with feathers and ribbons that trailed over the back of the seat. I could not keep J's fingers off of that hat. He grabbed the ribbons. He stretched and grabbed at the feathers. Babies are so quick. And, he was already a "tall" baby. No matter how I sat him or turned him or struggeled with him, that hat was just too tempting. She finally took it off and stashed it where he couldn't see it. They were pleasant about it, but not very pleased. A few hours into this flight of pandemonium, I heard the groom tell his bride he didn't believe they were ready for kids just yet.

Most of the youngins did gradually settle down. Not J, not till almost midnight, according to our internal clocks. I was exhausted by the time he fell finally asleep, when we were almost to New York. So, I arrived at this busy airport with a sleeping, dead weight child, hanging on one arm, and everything else I had to carry hanging on the other. They didn't have cases with wheels back then. And, even though I had mailed everything I could home to my parents, I still had plenty to carry so I could take care of the baby till everything arrived. Did I mention I was already exhausted? I found my connecting flight, and a seat, and I collapsed. The crowd with children had scattered of course. I found myself the only one in this waiting area, at this time of evening, with a baby. I had caught my breath and felt a little rested when they announced my flight, but J was awake again with all the commotion. If I thought he was a handful as a sleeping dead weight, I found the wakeful child even harder to handle with everything else. We were made to stand in line and I was having trouble with my load. When they announced first class passengers could board, I pretended to mis-understand, and I got in that short line and went right on the plane. Of course when they saw my ticket on the plane, the stewardess took me back to my assigned seat. But, she did help me carry my stuff and get settled. I did feel guilty....at first. When I saw how long before the rest of my seatmates arrived, I was feeling better about my deception. J was wide awake again, and I knew I was in for another hectic trip. But, this one was only going to last an hour or so, and help in the form of my family was getting closer. I was on the last leg of the trip and I was just starting to get excited myself.

This flight turned into a much nicer experience. My seatmate turned out to be a young man about my age who was flying home from College for Christmas with his family. When the baby
reached for him, he took J and played with him for the entire flight. He had teased me about getting on board first and we had talked about how far I'd come and what I had to carry. He thought my little deceptive trick was funny. The best part was our arrival at the airport in Columbus, Ohio. He told me to gather my things, and he carried J. We got off the plane that way, staying close together, so I didn't lose sight of my baby. Can you imagine what his parents must have thought, when their first sight of him was carrying a 9 month old baby and with a strange woman? I didn't even get to see their expressions. I was looking for my family, and he kept J and stayed with me till we were re-united. Mom grabbed me first, than, with a little confusion herself, she took J from my hero. I quickly introduced him and thanked him, and he wandered off with a big grin to explain to his family, who had gathered nearby and were staring at us. It was sometime after 9 P.M. Ohio time, which made it 3 A.M. for J and I, but I didn't care, I was STATESIDE again, and with my family.