So being a good son I called my mom this morning to wish her a happy Mother's Day. The machine picked up and I left her a message to call me.

This wasn't too much a surprise, as I knew she had gone on a cruise in the Carribean last week with my grandmother, and I wasn't sure when they were getting back. A conversation with my sister later this afternoon informed me that they were getting back tonight (and that my mom left her cellphone in her car, which was at my sister's house).

So I wasn't at all surprised to get a call from my mom at around 8:30 tonight, and was only slightly surprised to hear the hustle-and-bustle background noise on the other end. "Guess where I am?" she asked.

"At the airport?" I replied, reasonably secure in my assumption.

"Well, yes, but not Los Angeles. We're still in Miami. We took off for Los Angeles on-time, and about 20 minutes into the flight there was a loud mechanical bang, and we turned around and headed back for Miami. When we landed there were about 30 emergency vehicles on the tarmac with their lights flashing."

Wog. Anyhow, they're still waiting on another (I really hope it's a different) plane to fly them back, but that might not even happen tonight. It was already 11:30 pm eastern time when she called.

...

I lost my first grandmother to Cancer about 14 years ago. I hadn't even thought to be worried about both my Mom and my Grandma Kitty on the same flight (on Mothers Day, no less), but now I know I'll feel a lot better when I talk to Mom tomorrow...