I won't bore you by repeating myself...too much anyways. Coming and going. Meeting and greeting. Airports and aircrafts seem to be the crossroads for so many wonderful things in life.
All that said, each time I board an airplane, I look forward to seeing who I will be seated by and the stories I will get to hear. Yes, I am that annoying stranger you dread sitting by who will make you enter into conversation for the majority of your air travel time.
The day after Thanksgiving, I headed to the airport to travel to Phoenix to visit my sister and her family (I'll spare you from talking about my nieces right now. You know I could talk about how much I love them all day and then some more once I caught my breath). I booked my flight for 6:30 a.m.
In addition to the lack of sleep, I didn't account for the silence that would follow during my travel as a consequence.
As it turns out, most people prefer to keep to themselves during air travel. This truth is amplified at before 8 a.m. The closed eyelids and whimpers of snores in the seat next to me signaled that the only conversations I would hear during that flight would be between Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks through my ear buds (You've Got Mail never seems to get old, does it?).
My return flight to Dallas after my week long visit, however, made up for the initial leg of the trip.
Standing in line to board the plane, a couple in their late 50's began to talk to me. The smiles on their faces were telling of a story waiting to be told, so I, in turn, asked them where they were traveling to and why. As it turned out, they were headed to Albuquerque for the birth of their 3rd grandchild. They told me they had 6 kids of their own. The love in their eyes and warmth in their voices matched what they said. "Celebrating new life and family never gets old."
On my flight to reach my connection in Albuquerque, I sat next to a woman named Barb. She owns a company that makes the concrete blocks used to build WalMarts and told me all about her daughters upcoming wedding. While my conversation with her was completely pleasant, that's not what I am writing to tell you about.
As I boarded my flight in Albuquerque to reach Dallas, I searched for a window seat that was open not in the very back of the plane. I spotted one about midway and asked the woman on the aisle if the seat was taken. She told me no with a smile and let me slide in. As the flight attendant signaled that we were going to take off, the woman on the aisle and I realized that we had an empty seat between us, and we both agreed we were happy to have the extra space. We shared a laugh and introduced ourselves.
Her name was Carlene.
Have you ever met someone that exuded joy? I am not sure I had ever met someone who fully fit and deserved that description before that flight. Carlene is in her mid 60's and had short, brown hair. Her eyes had a smile of their own and her voice seemed to be the agent to deliver that contagious smile to anyone she talks to.
Carlene was traveling to Dallas to see her niece in a school production of the Little Mermaid. I shared the details of my trip to Phoenix with her, and before I knew it, we were sharing pictures, stories, and the things going on in our lives like we had known each other for years.
Carlene had just returned from a trip to Africa three weeks earlier. She shared her photos and stories with me for more than an hour. She showed me pictures of lions, ostriches, and trees that looked like they were taken straight out of a scene from the Lion King. She told me how she danced with a local tribe in South Africa and about a "tent" she stayed in during one leg of her trip that had marble bathroom countertops.
In addition to her travel group, Carlene takes a trip with a group of 13 girls she went to high school with each year. She told me that even though they are now in their 60's, each time they get together, it is like not a single day has passed since their high school graduation.
Later in the conversation, I learned that Carlene was widowed in 1990. I told her I was sorry, but she told me not to be. Here is what she said instead. "When that happened to me, I had a choice. I could let the sadness define my life, or I could get out there and keep living. I've chosen to fill my life with places, experiences, and the love of my family. That choice to live has given me more joy in the past 23 years of my life than I could have ever hoped to experience my whole life."
She advised me to do the same thing...to get out and see the world and not take any person or experience in my life for granted. She looked me in the eye at the end of the flight and told me that it was lovely to share conversation on our flight. When she stood up, she looked back and told me that she knew good things were going to come in my life. She said she could just tell. I hope she is right.
I don't know Carlene's last name, I don't have her phone number, and I probably will never see her again. However, I hope to take a little piece of Carlene with me for the rest of my life. She had experienced joy, and she had expereinced life and did what came natural to her on that flight.
She shared it.
That's the thing about joy. It's contagious. It's evident. It's life giving.
I may not have traveled the world (at least not yet) like Carlene and have a few less years under my belt, but as I look ahead and look at today, I know this. I have the opportunity to continuously choose joy. We have all been given life and the opportunity to live it.
A life well lived in my opinion, is not measured by the amount of money you make or the number of posessions you have, but instead by the moments you choose to live fully. Moments, people, and opportunites, no matter how big or small, are placed in front of us each day.
Amongst the chaos and even in the negative, there is always good if you look for it. As long as God is real, and He always will be, we can trust that He has our best in mind and is present if we will just look for Him. Do we choose to dwell on the past and wallow in our sorrows, or do we choose to live? Joy is found in living each moment and filling life with the love that is already around us. Carlene reminded me of that.
To be honest, I don't know what my life holds or where I will be in ten years. I can only pray that wherever that is and whoever is involved, that I can experience half the joy and half the life that Carlene shared with me on that 2 hour flight.
Thank you Carlene and thanks to each of you who already fill my life with joy. Each of you are a blessing, and I am more thankful for you than you know.
I couldn't hope or pray for more than this. A life filled with joy that can't help but be shared with others.
