• The Prince of Dubai (Part III)

    The Prince left for a month in Europe.  Something I’d never done.  Something he’d never done before either.  He expressed his hesitancy before he left Chicago.  Unsure of how he felt about being away from home for so long.  Untethered from his normal routine.  Unsure of how soon he may tire from the activities planned.…

  • Conference Room

    Like pigeons spaced evenly on a wire, the three of them sat against the back wall in chairs meant for a conference room staring at the screen.   The man nearest the door wore long gray hair under a blue ball cap.  He leaned forward a bit in what looked like an attempt to better…

  • The Prince of Dubai (Part II)

    In August he texted me and said he was coming to Chicago for a few days prior to his flight to Europe and suggested we meet up, but my work schedule overlapped with his few days.  Neither of us wanted to miss the opportunity to spend time together, so after some back and forth we…

  • The Prince of Dubai – (Part I )

    It is a walk that is only ten paces.  From one side of the gym to the other through spine that is a central passage.  A frenzied passage of people coming and going, horizontally and vertically, as the spine also connects to the lobby to the stairs down to the locker room.   It was…

  • Post Script – Ch13

    For 37 years I’d altered my actions so as to keep myself healthy and I was okay with that.  It wasn’t necessarily the altered behavior that was a challenge – it was the emotional toll having to explain it to others, along with the back story, that led to the fatigue.  It was my 37th…

  • Let’s call him ‘Sal’

    Two years ago a neighbor asked me out for a drink.  Let’s call him Sal.  Sal and I had a fun evening sharing stories and getting to know one another.  Having had family members in the same industry, we found plenty of great missives worth sharing.   It was obvious at the time that he…

  • 19

    It was the first time I noticed him being agitated.  His routine is so subtle, his motions so planned that this sudden departure from the norm was noticeable and I stopped to watch more closely.  Because I notice him daily.   In the mornings when I walk to the kitchen to make coffee I glance…

  • Nikki

    I’d sent him a email from the Alderman’s web site saying that I was a friend of Officer Augustine and he suggested that we meet.  The next day I received a reply asking how he could be of service.  There wasn’t really anything I needed specifically, I wrote, just that Gus said he and I…

  • Officer Augustine

    The Alderman was at the L stop this morning greeting people as they entered the station.  He does this even though he’s running uncontested.  He’s just that kind of guy.   When there is road work being done in his ward, he walks by to check on the progress.  When there is a new business…

  • I Chose Happiness – CH12

    Going to work after 9/11 became an utter hassle.  Long lines, even for the crew, increased security checks of the aircraft, the galleys, and all publicly accessible spaces meant that we had to inspect every square foot of the aircraft each time we boarded a new plane.  Air Marshals were on board, badges and IDs…

  • A Little Grey House in Ohio – Ch11

    The drab grey aluminum siding gave the appearance of tidiness to the two story bungalow I bought – one of the four that were side by side.  It did not stand out amongst them, the others – two in beige and the third in pale green.  It sat quietly under an also grey roof.  …

  • Good bye Orlando – Ch10

    There was a period of time when working domestic flights again felt good if only for the fact that I wasn’t crossing eight time zones in a day.  The truth was, however, that I felt cramped inside of a plane that wasn’t a wide body, and the multiple flights daily – four, five, or six…

  • Knowing Me Knowing You – Ch9

    Crystal asked me to have a seat at her desk in the lobby. Tall, slender, and stoic, she was a classic woman, as if she’d been cut out of a 1970’s fashion magazine featuring clothing by Halston. Mid fifties with grey hair that was coiffed into place like a helmet, dark rimmed glasses and perfect…

  • Home by Evening – Ch8

    Every morning when we’d arrive in Helsinki I’d open the back door of the MD-11, look out over the airfield, and marvel over the fact that I was here.   Thirteen years prior, when I’d been a passenger on the thirty minute flight from Stockholm to Helsinki, the first time I’d ever stepped onto a…

  • The German Summer – Ch7

    I always flew in to New York a day before work.  Doing so eliminated risks, offered time for proper rest, and best of all the opportunity to explore the city.  It was all new and fresh, plus I enjoyed the buzz that was all around me.  My usual commute started with an early morning flight…

  • Back to Helsinki – Ch6

    As it happened, two years earlier Delta Air Lines had purchased the transatlantic routes from Pan Am and in fact, I could now fly to Helsinki for free (In 1987 Delta purchased Western Airlines). We worked out the details and a few weeks later I was on my way to Helsinki after a ten year…

  • One Man Up Front – Ch5

    Our last bank of eastbound flights to the central time zone left around eight-thirty in the evening.  I always enjoyed working this bank of flights because it was the end of the day, most people on the flights were going home, and there wasn’t the stress level of having to be somewhere on time. We’d…

  • Salt Lake City – Ch4

    After that three mile walk home in the rain I vowed that I would never put myself in a position to have to go through that again.  Never.  Ever.   I didn’t stop trying to date, but I did put an end to any type of activity that was deemed unsafe.  Salt Lake may have…

  • Inversion – Ch3

    It wasn’t until February when the sky cleared out that I realized that I was walled in by mountains.   I’d moved to Salt Lake City in December of 1985 when the valley was capped by a cloud mass known as an inversion.  An inversion is when warm air at higher altitudes traps cold air…

  • Harry – Ch2

    I have no recollection of the application process nor the interview process.  The job listing had to have been in the newspaper because that was the only place where jobs were posted at the time.  I don’t recall having a typewriter at the time – I was living at my cousin Toby’s house then.  He…