Do you know what a rainbow hug feels like? No, I am not talking about Skittles, and yes, I can hear you thinking, “A hug from a rainbow? Is she off her rocker?” Ok, even people that know me might say, “Yep! She doesn’t even know where her rocker is!” Or, “She fell off years ago!” But I promise if you bear with me, I will tell you what a rainbow hug feels like.
Heading out to the airport I get a text: “Your flight is leaving at 3:30 and will land in Charlotte…” But I am on a 2:30 flight through Philadelphia. No worries, I don’t even have to rush to the airport. I get to the counter, ask about connections, and she says you’re fine, the connecting flight leaves at 5:00. Huh? I didn’t know it then, but this is my first rainbow hug detour.
A quick conversation about connection times and American puts me on an oversold flight to Chicago. The next people in line are waiting for seats on my oversold flight. Happily, American puts them on a different flight. I get to the gate and I am given the last seat. When we are just about to land and I do something that I never do: I put in my ear buds and plug them into the plane. I hear Dionne Warwick singing “Keep smiling, keep shining, knowing you can always count on me…”
My eyes start leaking. I’m not crying, my body isn’t contracting, and I’m not trying to hold back. My eyes are faucets. Water is streaming down my face as I remember my Dad healthy, in Chicago for the National Funeral Directors Convention with him and Aunt Kathy. I cannot control my tears and I do not want to.
My heart is hearing my Dad is singing, “…now there’s so much more I see, and so by the way, I thank you. Oh, for the times when we’re apart…well, then close your eyes and know: the words are coming from my heart…Keep smiling, keep shining, knowing you can always count on me…”
The song is breaking and healing my heart at the same time. As we taxi, my heart tells my Dad: I can always count on you, I love you. My mind tells me that I need to calm down. I need to find the joy in that memory of my Dad. The pilot says, “We are waiting for a plane to move so we can get to our gate.” Perfect. I have time to compose myself and find the smile in my Chicago Dad memory.
Forty minutes later I exit the plane to my next flight delay. I begin to feel the frustration of travel. Then it hits me: whenever my day goes this far off kilter the Divine is working overtime to put me just where I need to be, and I know that my Chicago Dad memory is exactly where my heart needs to be.
Up in the air for the last time, we come into Atlanta when the pilot explains, “We need to circle until thunderstorms pass.” In a blue sky looking down at white clouds I realize that every dark cloud has light, all we need to do is find it. We start our decent and I see the most beautiful rainbow outside my window. My seatmate taps me to show me how the rainbow is wrapping around our plane.
The Divine put me on an oversold flight, held me on the tarmac until I could find joy in a memory of my Dad, and kept our plane circling around Atlanta until I could land in my Dad’s rainbow hug. I know rainbows can hug. I pray the Divine of all leads you to your happiest memories and that someday you experience a hug from a rainbow. Thank you for letting me share mine with you.