Story of the Day 4/ 1/ 2012

My son is coming home from Israel, tomorrow.

My husband and I have already discuissed who will pick him up, tomorrow evening. He is coming in around 10:30 PM.

It will be avery long day for him.
He will geta taxi. He has arranged for it, very early, and it will drive him from Jerusalem to the airport in Tel Aviv.
I told him to leave a lot of time for seciurity.
He is flying El Al and they will probably open up the seams in his underwear to check for explosives.

Especially because he smiles too much.

He will fly and fly and fly, and land at JFK arond 12:15 or 12:30 PM, and then he will sit in the airport for 5 hours.
Or 6 hours.
Or 7 hours.
The airline has called me three times making changes to his connecting flight. I can no longer remember what time the second plane is, I only know that he leaves Israel early on April2nd, and arrives in Indianapolis late on April 2nd.
I have diligently emailed my son each change, and I know they will give him a print out of the schedule, when he arrives at the airport in Tel Aviv....and since the weak link in al of his travel plans is his tendency to get lost, the extra time that has been added to his layover in new York is advantageous, since it gives him a a couple of extra hours to locate his Delta connecting flight.

In addition to emailing him each time there was a flight change, I emailed him, a few days ago, and told him to pack everything before going to bed. I mean, except for his toothbrush and maybe a pair of clean underwear.


Today has been dedicated to cleaning.
It s Sunday - the very last Sunday before Passover and my home is a wreck.
It is clean, but a wreck.
I have pulled out things from closets, I have sorted through junk drawers, I have washed all of the curtains, and now it is time to start putting everything back.
But, we are also doing the "last minute" kitchen things. Things we couldn't do earlier, because, yes, we did want to have challah (bread) on the last Shabbat before Passover, and cheerios for breakfast, and.....

So, today, my husband has been working on the refrigerators.
I have cleaned one oven , and am scrubbing floors.
And I have decided to paint the bathroom.

We have lived in this house for 14 1/2 years and I haven't' painted it since then.
Of course , I have also not repainted the dining room, living room, our bedroom and bathroom, Aaron's rooms, the study, the stairway walls.....but the bathroom is on my radar.

I take off for Menards, the not quite local hardware store.
There used to be hardware store about 10 minutes from our house, but it closed recently. Now I have a choice, a few that are 15 to 20 minutes away that are so-so, or a good one that is 25 minutes away. I decide to go the distance.

While the paint is being mixed, my cell phone rings.

It is a woman with very strong Israeli accent.
" I am calling from JFK, your son is here and we need his grandmother's phone number."

Which son?

It can't be Aaron.
Aaron is in Israel.
He is leaving israel TOMORROW morning.
I am sure of this. I have checked it and rechecked it and discussed it with him and emailed him, and.....I am sure it is Sunday. I check the date on my cell phone.
April 1st. Okay, I have not lost my mind.
Yet.

It is Sunday.
Aaron is in Israel.

Only he isn't.

I shake my head.
There can only be one son who would be at JFK on the wrong day needing my mother's phone number.
Even if Ely ended up at JFK , today, for some God-ony-knows-what reason, he would take care of whatever it was and not have some lady call me for my mother's telephone number.


The woman continues, "His Delta flight isn't until tomorrow and he wants to go stay with her."

My son has somehow gotten from Jerusalem to New York on the wrong day and found a nice lady at the lost and found who will make sure he gets to hs grandmother's house.
Well, apartment.

Only Aaron.

I give her the phone number. I also give her my mother's cell phone number in case my mother has decided to not spend the entire day in her apartment waiting for her grandson to need her.

"I will call his Bubbie now." The woman says and hangs up.
Like I said, my son found the nice lady at the lost and found and she is..... locating his grandmother to take care of him....she is king this for my little boy, who is 6'3" ....and who is incompetent.
And since the lady calls his grandmother "Bubbie", she will also probably give him lolly pop.

I am a bit confused.
We spent a lot of extra money for the kid to fly El Al. Specifically El AL.
We know ur son. El Al is the safest airline in the world. There is basically no chance he will be hijacked or blown up.
Or get lost.
Or end up on the wrong plane.
My son is so skilled at traveling that the ticket price sounded really cheap.

So why am I getting call from New York on the wrong day.
Did he smile so much that they let him on the wrong flight?

I wait 15 minutes and call my mother. I wait so that the nice lady from the lost and found can call first.

"Hi Mom, thank you for rescuing my son!"
What else could I say?

I tell her that am sure he is also broke and if he needs money to let us know and we will pay her back.

She is heading out to buy food.
You don't' get to be 6'3" by not eating.
And my son is really good at charming grandparents to feed him.

Then I call my husband, and tell him to sit down and to look at the calendar, before I start this story.......