Authored by Karl Saxton & Darcey Miller
Karl
Little did I know that a
slight change of plans would change my life in a dramatically positive way. I
had known about my work trip to Orlando for over a month. The arrangements had
been made and I was prepared to fly out on a Monday and home on a Saturday. I
had contacted the facilitator I would be working with and checked my class
schedule to ensure the dates were correct. Class was scheduled to begin
on a Wednesday and end on Friday. I would then embark on my trip home the next
morning. The official dates of the trip were Monday June 6 through
Saturday June 11.
Darcey
I needed to take a trip
'home'. I had started to feel too much like a city girl and I needed to get out,
take a hike, be by the ocean, be in the mountains and just enjoy nature. It must
have been sometime in October or November of 2010. I was sitting around on a
cold & snowy day. I decided to get a hold of my aunt, pull up my dad's
airline miles and book my vacation back to Juneau. I knew that I wanted the trip
to be a good one, one that was a longer stay. So I booked it for June 10th -
17th. A bit later, I realized that only gave me one weekend there. So I changed
it to the 21st. Because of that, the changes caused me to have to readjust
flights, or rather I made the agent do that and my flight on the 10th had times
changed. One thing about flying on miles...is that there are always tons
of stops, ones that are so far out of the way and huge layovers. On the plane
and in airports all day long. Now I am thankful, for those out of the way
airports (Dallas) and the layovers (3 hours there)....
Karl
All seemed to be in order in the days leading up to the trip
until the Friday before my departure date. I received an email from
the facilitator I would be working with that the class dates we had been given
were incorrect. The correct dates for the class were Tuesday through Thursday
and not Wednesday through Friday as originally thought. On Monday June 6, I departed for Florida with every intention of
staying until Saturday the 11. Tuesday the first day of class I begin contemplate leaving on
Friday instead of Saturday. If it was cost effective. I sent an email to the
boss, did some calculations myself and together we determined that it would cost
basically the same to keep me there through Saturday as it would to change my
flight and fly me home on Friday. It was Wednesday afternoon once this
information was finalized and the plan to fly me home Friday was set in stone.
Finally, somewhere between 10pm and 12am Wednesday night I called the travel
service I work with and made the changes to my flight. I would depart Orlando for Phoenix
between 6-630am Friday morning with a 2 1/2 hour lay over in Dallas.
Darcey
To be honest, I don't remember much of the flight to Dallas. Once I
landed in Dallas, I think that I got something to eat. I
remember it being sort of uncomfortable, never in my life have I ever really ate
alone. I ate part of it,
didn't finish my drink, paid my check and left. I started to feel edgy. That is
when I knew I needed to get some fresh air. Checked my ticket and found my way
to where my next flight would be. After that, of course checked the security
line, and then headed for the nearest place to exit so I could get outside and
enjoy the morning air before I had to board. I knew I had plenty of time,
remember, 3 hours.
Karl
From what I recall I arrived in Dallas around 8 o'clock and
would depart around 1030am. After arriving I proceeded to the nearest restroom, cleaned up and did what I normally do in Dallas when I have a long layover. I
walked in one direction looking for a place to have breakfast then walked in
another direction until something sounded good. I passed a TGIFridays on my
walk, read their breakfast selection and had a seat at the bar. Breakfast was
served, ate, and enjoyed. I still had over an hour until my plane was to board
so I decided to head outside for some fresh air.
Darcey
It was nice out in Dallas, there was a bench that was to the
left of the exit doors, but it was being occupied. I walked behind it and found
a nice spot, that was in the sun, along a small concrete ledge that I could sit
on. After a bit I started to get way too warm and hoped the couple would leave
the bench ASAP, to my luck, they did. When I first sat on the ledge I was alone,
somewhere a bit after that a guy sat down a little further from me. He caught my
eye, he was tall, had his sunglasses on and boy was he cute. Once that couple left, he jumped right up and snatched the bench, plenty
of room for one more person so I went ahead and gathered my stuff and sat down.
I think I smiled, I think he smiled, we said hello, or some sort of greeting.
From that point to the end of our talk, I don't remember much. We covered a lot
about what we were doing, what we do, where we were from, etc. It was just nice.
Karl
I proceeded outside and surveyed the
scene. There were people sitting on the bench in the shade so I had a seat on
the curb that was a short distance behind the bench. As I prepared to take my seat my attention was
diverted to a beautiful young women sitting on the curb by
herself. Soon after I sat down I noticed that
the individuals on the bench were gone. The curb her and I were sitting on was in the direct Dallas morning sunlight and it was beginning to get warm. So I got up and moved to the bench. I'm not sure why (I would imagine it was
because she was hot too) but no sooner had I sat down on the bench when the
young women got up and had herself a seat on the bench as well. I'm not sure who said hello first but it was definitely
exchanged in some form or fashion, Hi, hello, hey, how are you?...one of those
polite greetings. The greeting turned in
to a great conversation. I don't remember many specifics about the conversation. General details for sure. I do remember we covered a lot of ground though.
Darcey
I think he realized he needed to get inside and pretty quick, we had been caught in conversation and I think neither of us realized how long we had been talking. He said some stuff about safe trip, have fun, etc. As he started to walk away, it seemed like he back tracked and well, asked for my number. I got a little giddy and maybe said something like 'Um, sure' with a big smile. Well I gave him mine and he told me his and his name. We parted ways. There was this weird feeling that I should have
followed him, just walked with him to his gate and continued the talk that
seemed to have both of us so intrigued. I didn't. As soon as I loaded up my
stuff and got inside I sent a message to my best friend, Alicia. I told her I
had met a guy, talked for quite a while and gave him my number. She chatted
right away...what have I told you, give out a fake number. We continued to chat
about how cute he was and probably some of our talk. She laughed at me. I got a
text, it was him, telling me again to have a great trip. That is where the
texting began and they haven't stopped since.
Karl
The time had come (unfortunately) for me to head back inside to
catch my flight. I had one problem with that. I was enjoying a conversation with
a women I had to know more about. I remember not wanting the conversation to
end. I had found someone special. I knew that right away. The way she talked
about life, her family, the simplicity of it all. I was beyond intrigued to say
the least. I got up from my seat, summoned a lot of courage and said something to the effect of..."I know we
live worlds apart as far as distance goes but I was wondering if I could get
your number, I would really like to get to know you more?" She said yes! Saying
I was happy is probably an understatement. We exchanged numbers and goodbyes. I didn't know what I had found
at that moment. What I did know was that I had met someone and I had to know
more. I sent a text before boarding my plane to thank her for the conversation
and to let her know that it was a pleasure meeting her. I received a similar
text in reply, boarded my plane and headed home looking forward to the next time
I would talk with Darcey. We would and did talk again.
Darcey
I remember sitting on the plane, from Dallas to Seattle, trying
to make sure I remembered him, our talk, what made me smile, what amazed me
about this man. That moment and the
feelings were enough to just stick. The details didn't matter too much. I knew
that maybe one day, we would talk about all of it again, or at least I hoped we
would. We seemed to have so much in common and there was just something about
how easily we just talked and talked that amazed me, that for the first time,
felt genuine and comforting with a man. It was refreshing to feel that and with
someone I didn't know at all made it even more exciting. I was so glad he asked,
I was so glad I gave him my number...not a fake one. I was pretty sure that this
could grow into something more. It wasn't just those giddy, someone flirted with
me sort of things. It wasn't flirting, it was just what we both needed. It was
good.
Karl
It's been almost a year since
that wonderful morning on the bench outside Terminal C at DFW. Darcey and I have
been successfully navigating a long distance relationship since then. We are
now engaged and are planning a wedding for June 2013. I guess it just goes to show that sometimes the best things come
when least expected.
