Thanks Ms. Ruby!

It was a beautiful clear blue sky as the plane approached the Birmingham Airport.  In an hour, or so, Angel and I would be home for Thanksgiving dinner 1996.  It was a climax to a very busy and fun filled week.  It was a few moments of solitude to think about the goodness and greatness of God, the fun and frolic of adventure, and the thrill and tranquility of seeing and spending time loved ones.

It all started the previous Saturday with a temporary time of separation.  I jogged three miles that morning, spent the afternoon at home, and that evening I prepared to travel to Miami leaving at 5:00 am Sunday morning to travel to the Birmingham Airport.  Hanceville Junior College, where Angel played volleyball, won the Alabama title and received an invitation to play for the National Championship for Junior College Girls Volleyball.

We arrived at the Miami on Sunday afternoon.  This was the second year to play for the national championship making the second trip a little more familiar.  Our hotel was near Miami International.  Most of the teams in the playoff stayed in this one hotel.  Saturday night was a wonderful gala to kick off the week.  There was great music, delicious food, and special videos of each team represented.  The sad part was it was just Angel and me, but it was also an exciting time in Angel’s and my life.  I wished that the whole family could have attended, but it will always be a magical moment for me.

It was difficult trying to get to the games.  The games were played at University of Miami Dade Campus.  I was at the mercy of those who had driven their vehicles.  I thought there might be transportation for us, but I was wrong.  I did get to see areas of Miami that I otherwise would have never seen.  I remember stopping at a store and everything was in Spanish.  I realized what people meant when they referred to the area as “Little Havana.”  I felt like a pilgrim in a foreign land, but it was south Florida.

One of delights of the stay was an IHOP restaurant in walking distance of the hotel.  They served the best French toast and link sausage.  On Monday night, Angel’s volleyball team met at the Hard Rock Café.  I remember having a very delicious and very expensive hamburger.  I had heard about twenty-dollar burgers and the high cost of things in Miami and found it to be true. 

The Hard Rock Café clientele was fascinating and different.  I was almost afraid to see the cooks because the waitress and servers were covered with tattoos and body piercing, wore ragged clothes, and sported several different colors of hair.  I remember a young man showing some girls at our table his pierced tongue.  Once again, I felt like a pilgrim in a strange land filled with strange customs and exotic foods.

I did participate in one of the indigenous rituals while there.  Periodicity, they would play the song YMCA by the group called the Village People.  If you remember, the group dressed like a construction worker, a Native American, a police officer, and another guy.  Everyone in the restaurant took part when the song played.  I admit that I am uncoordinated but before the night was over, I could do a pretty Y M C A routine.  Sometimes patrons and servers would do the routine on tabletops.  I stuck to the floor!

We had two days of games.  Angel’s team placed ninth in the nation that year.  The championship game was between Miami Dade and Idaho.  Those girls were awesome.  They could spike the volleyball so hard that they could knock down opponents.  I saw the most valuable player, from Miami; spike the ball dislocating the index finger of the star player from Idaho.  It was ugly and the player was in intense pain.

On Thanksgiving morning, we boarded the plane to head home.  The first leg of the journey was a stop in Jacksonville.  The flight was so rough that it was like riding a school bus on a bumpy dirt road.  When the plane hit the runway, the plane titled to left, then to the right, and then to the front.  The pilot interrupted the terror by telling us the landing was performed by a female pilot’s first time landing a passenger plane.  The rough flight and landing made perfect sense, and we applauded her for not crashing.

Some passengers debarked, then new passengers boarded, and we took off for Atlanta.  After a quick stop in Atlanta, the plane left at 2:00 pm and landed in Birmingham at 1:30 pm.  Remember, Atlanta is Eastern Time, Birmingham Central.  The flight was thirty minutes.  We arrived in Birmingham before we left Atlanta.

Angel and I arrived at home and received a warm welcome from the family as well as Ruby, Alice, and Robert.  Mrs. Ruby and family drove in from Houston, Texas to make sure that I had turkey, dressing, and cranberry sauce for Thanksgiving dinner.

Miami was great with French toast, fresh coconuts, and fantastic adventures.  It did not feel like Thanksgiving in that foreign land with funny talking people, swaying palm trees, various exotic plants, and sparkling swimming pools.

It was strange adjusting to the chilling appearance of home after a week of festivities.  There is no place like home with family and friends on Thanksgiving Day, especially those who travel on long journeys to share a few moments of love by gathering around the table eating turkey, dressing, and lots of cranberry sauce.

Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ (Ephesians 5:20 KJV).

Thanks Ruby!