Did I really go to Ireland?

Yes, I did! But it wasn't easy getting there! We flew from St. Louis to Chicago. O'Hare...Need I say more? Raise your hand if you've ever had a delay at O'Hare. This trip was no different.

See the smiles on our faces as we waited in Terminal 5 for our international flight. Just for the record, Terminal 5 is about 300 miles away from Terminal 2. Maybe 400. Anyway, my aunt, Mary Kay and I were very excited and ready to go!

Then came the delay. We were delayed at boarding, delayed on the ground, and then we taxied another 300 miles before we finally took off. We knew we had about 40 minutes to meet our connecting flight in Iceland where my brother and sister-in-law would be waiting for us.

The flight itself was uneventful once it got off the ground. Sunrise was spectacular.

The amazement of Iceland was lost on me as I kept checking my watch. I knew we were going to be cutting it close, if we made it at all. No mention from our pilot that connecting flights might be missed.

Now I can look at the pic and appreciate the beauty, but my anxiety was way too high to ooooh and ahhhh as we taxied in right next to the plane we were supposed to be boarding, which was just shifting into reverse. About this time I got a text message that said, "Gosh, we're so sorry you missed your flight, but good news, we have rerouted you...to Stockholm after a brief 2.5 hour layover in Iceland. Enjoy your stay in our beautiful country. Whatever.

We finally boarded our flight bound to Stockholm, which was uneventful with the exception of the fact that we were going to Stockholm. Another nice 2.5 hour layover, and we finally boarded our flight to Dublin.

Mary Kay was happy to be boarding.

This selfie reflects my feelings about being in Stockholm.

But we made it!! Dennis, Noriko, and Nathan picked us up at the airport. Only thing missing was our luggage. See my white t-shirt? Compliments of Air France at the missing luggage counter.

Oh, I have so many stories to tell. Some of you may know that I was supposed to go to Ireland April 9, 2022, the very day my husband died. I had a lot of anxiety building up to making this trip. AFF big time. I shed a few tears along the way, but this trip was yet another level of healing.

As always, thanks for reading! I plan to bore you all to death with my Ireland stories. If you haven't gone, put it on the bucket list and make it happen.