fall back
I was on my way to LAX on Friday morning, and traffic was smoother than expected and I was feeling excited about the upcoming weekend with friends & family in Minneapolis. But around 9:30a, as we started to exit the freeway and enter the ramp for the terminal, traffic suddenly backed up and came to a complete stop. We manuevered our way off the ramp to try to get into the terminal roundabout another way, but there were cop cars re-directing traffic, and it didn’t look like anyone was being let in AT ALL. Immediately concerned, I hopped on local news sites to see if there was anything to be on the lookout for. Nothing. So my next guess was to check Twitter. I searched #LAX and immediately saw reports of a SHOOTER in TERMINAL 3. I was horrified!
We sat in another pocket of traffic, not moving while I continued to review the updates. We quickly learned that TSA agent(s) had been shot, and it appeared that they had the gunman in custody. The early reports made it seem like the wounds were not life-threatening, and since the gunman was reportedly in custody, it seemed that there was a chance I might still be able to make my 10:49a flight out of Terminal 5. We pulled off the ramp and found a spot on the street and decided to walk to the terminal since it didn’t appear cars were being let in, and it seemed others were taking this approach. But we quickly saw groups of people walking back, looking a bit defeated and we were informed that they weren’t letting ANYONE in. The airport was at a groundstop (or something like that) and all terminals were in lockdown.
Ever the optimist (?!), I decided to wait it out at a nearby hotel as I was still thinking there was a chance that I could still fly out within a few hours once they did a sweep and made sure everything was fine. I wandered over to the Radisson and pulled up a seat at the restaurant bar (all the tables were taken! Nards!) and parked myself in front of a TV as crowds of discombobulated travelers continued to grow in the smalll lobby of the hotel.
After waiting and chatting and commiserating with disgruntled travelers for almost FOUR HOURS, it became rather clear to me that the situation was much more grave than I had understood it to be, and that my odds of getting out on a flight at a reasonable hour were shrinking by the moment, so I walked down the street and jumped in a taxi and headed home to my boys.
While en route, I ended up changing my flight to the red eye. I was determined to get back to Minneapolis to see my good friends and celebrate the upcoming birth of my friend Kelly’s little girl, but I didn’t want to arrive in Minneapolis after midnight if it meant I would miss hanging out with my family in LA AND my family in Mpls.
I came home and spent a wonderful evening with my boys and my MIL, and then as everyone went to sleep, I snuck off the airport again, slid through security, tucked myself in and took the night bird to MSP.
When my plane disembarked at the glorious hour of 6:15a, I spotted Travis Wall (my favorite choreographer from SYTYCD; if you know who he is, you KNOW who he is) and made it a point to tell him how big of a fan I am of his work and thank him for the beauty he creates.
Saturday was quality time with my parents, neices and sister; and Sunday was a wonderful day with my best girlfriends from high school at a baby shower for a dear friend. And then, at 7:30p, I was back at the airport and back to my boys.
Amazed. Grateful. Reflective. Present. Alive.
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