What would you tell your kids if you thought you might die in 3 hours?

What would you tell your kids (or family, or loved ones, or best friend) if you thought you might die in 3 hours?

Three hours of torture. Three hours to say what you need to say. Three hours till the end OR START of your life.

“For a few hours, the city watched and waited and watched some more as the JetBlue aircraft seemed to circle endlessly in the sky, preparing to land somehow, somewhere.” By Carla Hall and Kurt Streeter, Times Staff Writers

I saw a picture of woman holding her little girl as her little boy walked out in front of her. They were walking down the stairs coming from the jetBlue plane that just landed after a three hour ordeal in the sky.

If you were on the plane, what do you do? WHAT DO YOU DO?

You have just taken off from Burbank, CA on the way to New York. The next thing you know, you’re flying over the Pacific Ocean, circling LAX and preparing for a crash landing. And you’re watching it all on TV. You are the spectator to your own possible demise.

But what do you do when you have both your kids sitting next to you? What do you tell them? What do you need to tell them that you may never tell them again? What do you need to say to your kids to make this situation easy knowing that this could possibly be your last moments together? In reality, you walk out your door every day not knowing the outcome. And you just get through your day and go on to the next. But when your plane is about to go down in an emergency landing because of a broken landing gear, and you watch with your own eyes the news and see the preparation being made for possible tragedy, how do you keep it together and be strong for your kids?

What do you do?

For a brief moment I thought about the people on the plane. I thought about fathers traveling without their kids. I thought about parents on the plane holding their kids. I thought about a child traveling alone (as Jessica will be in two weeks). I suddenly was put in a mood that I didn’t want to be in. I was angry at life, angry at all the unfortunate events going on in the world, and angry at God. And my mind kept thinking about the slow torture the passengers were going through on the plane.

Donna asked, “Do you think they’re allowed to call their families?” I replied with only a hopeful, “Probably.” But I didn’t know.

What if you did get to call your family and nobody was home? What kind of message would you leave? What would you say to your two year old daughter? Would she understand? What would you say to your five year old son? How long would you talk to them?

I didn’t want to read the story today. I didn’t want to watch the footage last night. I only wanted to know one thing - the outcome. And about an hour after the plane was scheduled to ‘crash land’, I called Dale to get an update. Thank goodness for the good news.

But many did watch. Many said a prayer. Many drank beer doing so as if watching a football game.

People in offices, sports bars, restaurants and health clubs all over the Southland are transfixed as the drama unfolds on television. By Carla Hall and Kurt Streeter, Times Staff Writers

Many watched. I couldn’t.

There’s a lump in my throat as I look at the picture of the mother and two kids. There’s a tear fighting to stay in my eye as I think about what could have been. There’s a hole in my heart when I think about being someone in that plane for three hours. And I’m still mad. But that’s a personal issue I have with a higher being.

It’s probably going to be a life changing event for many on that plane. I know it’s a life changing event for me.

So now what? What do I do?

I’ve said my piece. And now all I could do is try not to think about it. And think about my life a little bit more differently.



‘nuff said.