Day Twelve | The End to Another Journey ... Flights, Delays, First Class and Rae Ann the Hero

I'm home and just finishing up the endless pile of laundry (would have been done, but a pen got stuck in one of the loads - yikes - need to rewash it). I wanted to write one more entry to finish off our fabulous trip. We flew out of Victoria, B.C. on a smaller plane, which was fun for the girls. Despite the fact it was only a 22 minute flight, Annelies insisted on taking out her iPad for the short duration!

Our flight from Seattle to Minneapolis was delayed two hours, so we had dinner at Chile's and all got in some screen time.

Scott upgraded to First Class (love that Delta Gold status), so the girls agreed Paradis would sit up front the first half.

Little did we know the flight would get so exciting ... about 30 minutes in, while geared up to knit and watch Soul Surfer, I heard an announcement, "Anyone with Medical Expertise please come to the front of the plane." Now those that know me well agree I have a nursing degree, and even a license, but expertise is a strong word for my medical confidence as I haven't practiced in over 20 years. I cautiously watched as NO ONE went forward ... suddenly I found myself helping a seizing woman. I do have to admit that my instincts kicked in and I found myself assessing the situation pretty well (OK, better than a lay person, but I'm confident not better than someone with recent experience!). I was able to take a pulse, measure her blood pressure, and do a glucose reading (she was diabetic)! Pretty good, huh?

However, my anxiety wasn't in helping the woman in need, it was trying to answer the flight attendants that kept asking me, "Do we have to divert the plane?", "The pilot needs an answer, should we divert and land the plane?" What stress! What was I to do?

Once the woman stopped seizing and I felt she was stable, I went and talked with the pilot (through a phone of course). We both agreed a diversion wasn't necessary, but I found myself saying to myself, "Who am I to make that decision? I don't know jack!"

After that I was queen of the plane. Annelies and I moved up to first class (because during the chaos Paradis and Annelies forgot to switch), were given dinner, and a voucher for a future flight. After the flight passengers were thanking me for helping the lady and not having to divert the plane. I'm thinking this hero thing isn't a bad deal after all ...

Thanks for following us on our journey out West. We are planning to travel again Spring Break of 2012 and Summer of 2012. As of now, we aren't quite sure where we will go; I will be working on that within the next couple months.

Happy travels everyone ...