Edith and the airport

We arrived here at about 10:30 this morning after a long drive to the airport and a short flight north.  I wrote an entry for my Blessings journal while I was on the plane.  I didn't have internet of course, but got a chance to write.

The flight wasn't full and our bags were at baggage claim almost before we got there.  We grabbed our stuff and began to look for Rob's brother, Armando.  We looked and waited and waited and looked, but we couldn't find him.  Rob went to the pay phones to call.  He got a busy signal, the wrong number and another busy signal.  Finally, after 45 minutes or so, I got up to make the call.  Asking Rob for the number, he said 488****.  I didn't think that sounded right, so asked him to get my phone book.  The number was 448****.  Armando answered and we discovered there was a mix-up on times and he left just as we landed!  As quickly as he could he came back to the airport.

While we were waiting outside, we sat on a bench and I got to do one of my favorite things:  people-watching.  We watched people in a hurry, people reunited and lots of frustration as people tried to find a place to park.  There was a wide cross-walk just down from us where people rushed to the parking garage with their bags in tow.  I looked up at one point to see an old lady slowly heading in the direction of that walkway in an airline wheelchair.  Then I realized that she was not in control of her chair and was going to go over the curb!  Three other people saw her at the same time and as I did, began to run toward her as she toppled face first out of her chair onto the blacktop, hitting her head on the bumper of an SUV.  Rob joined us and we got the woman back in her chair and asked the security people to get medical services for her.  It seems the skycap had left her alone to go retrieve her luggage.  He said that he put the brake on, but as I discovered, the brakes were faulty and didn't hold. 

The woman, whose name was Edith, was 92 years old and had just returned from a wonderful vacation in Southern California.  She wept because this had to happen to put a damper on the whole thing.  She was confused and couldn't hear well because the fall had knocked her hearing aid out of her ear.  I repeated the questions into her ear and prayed for her as well.  When we saw the paramedics coming to check her over, I left her in the hands of an airport employee and went to join Rob, Andrea and Armando for the ride to Vacaville.

I can't get Edith out of my mind.  She was so heartbroken.  I was torn.  I really wanted to stay with her while she was examined.  I guess that all I can do now is hope that her injuries are minimal and that the black eye she will definitely have is the worst of it.  And of course I will pray.  I'm powerless without prayer.