When the news alert flashed across my TV screen, scrolling 'Brazilian Airliner Crashes, Sao Paulo" last night my heart stopped. For you see my beautiful daughter-in-law, Raquel, and my grandbaby, BillyB, were enroute back to the United States from Brazil.
The phone rang not 30 seconds after the alert, it was my son.
"Mom, did you just see the news alert?"
"Ohhh God, yes!"
"Do you have Kel's itinerary?"
"No. I just know she was on a Continental flight."
"The newscasters are saying the flight took off from Porte Alegre, not Rio. Where is Porte Alegre?"
"Don't know Mom."
Putting our heads together and firing up our computers we looked for departures, arrivals at a site called flightstats.com. The site informed us there was a multi-legged Continental flight originating from Rio to Sao Paulo to Houston. The stats informed us that flight CO92 landed in Sao Paulo 90 minutes late. We figured the plane she and my grandbaby were on circled that airport all that time waiting for clearance. Later, the site informed us the connecting flight to Houston was "enroute" and was due to land at George Bush Int in Houston at 6:22 AM.
There wasn't much else we could do but wait. Wait, see and PRAY she was on flight CO92.
The phone rang this morning at 9:00 AM.
"Mom, Kel left a message on my phone, they have arrived safely in Houston."
Mingled with tears my prayers of thanksgiving rose. I thanked God for my wonderful daughter-in-law and grandchild, knowing these two so loved people in my life could have been gone in an instant.
My thoughts now turn to the 189+ passengers on that fatal TAM flight. I pray for the families and friends of the victims and thank God above for giving me another chance to tell Raquel and little BillyB,
'I love you so."
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Comments: 53
life can be gone in an instant
do not dwell on what is not important
praise and love those who are important to you.
i kept my kids bedroom doors shut
rules.no food, strip your bed and i will wash the sheet and put the clean ones on
put your dirty clothes in the laundry room.........
and when my son was in an accident and one was killed and he was not.......
i thanked God........in ways no one would understand but me.....
God Bless you all
Linda - I understand what you're talking about, totally.
Update: I just talked with my son who said Raquel and BillyB arrived safely from Houston to Minneapolis. Raquel's plane sat on the runway in Rio for three hours. The passengers on her plane were told the reason for the delay was because of a "strike" and that "two planes had crashed". She knew absolutely nothing, no circumstance or that people were even killed. I'm supposing if they had been told the real facts a lot of the outbound passengers would NOT have gotten on the plane and continued the last leg of their journey to Houston.
this grandma Katie
i am so pleased your daughter-in-law and grandson are home safe Lynn.
I'm glad your family is safe and feel sad for the families who won't see their loved ones again here on earth.
The company for which I do most of my consulting work lost 3 people on that flight.
God bless your family. You are in my prayers. And my prayers extend to those who lost family in Sao Paolo