The Red Suitcase

In 2010, my mother wanted to travel to South Fork, CO where my parents had owned a cabin on the banks of the Rio Grande. Alzheimer's was taking a firm hold on her and I knew travel would be difficult but I decided to go for it. If we did not travel in 2010, it would never happen.

She wanted a new suitcase on wheels. So off we went to buy one, she chose red because it would be easy to spot on the conveyor belt in baggage claim. She also wanted to buy me a red suitcase which I did not want but felt I was to let her buy it, she bought 2 red suitcases.

We flew to Colorado Springs, rented a car, and drove to Creede, CO where we rented a cabin. My friend Anna Marie joined us.

The scenery was spectacular, mom enjoyed herself as much as she could, we drove by the old cabin to take a look. There were a couple of Alzheimer's meltdowns due to being away from home. On our return trip, 5 of us were removed from the flight to lighten the plane. (That makes one feel good about oneself!) My mother was left on the plane. I called my husband, he would pick her up in Houston. They assured us we would be on the next flight and our luggage would be waiting for us. HA! We had to spend the night. Most of us made it back to Houston on the 1st flight of the day because a family of 5 who had checked in never showed up to board the flight.

So there was my mother at Bush Airport with a United Airlines employee claiming her luggage. She claimed mine too. She claimed 2 red suitcases. I looked back on it a month later. God was not surprised I spent the night in Colorado Springs. (I was!) My mother was able to identify our suitcases because they were red in a sea of black luggage.

God was in the small detail of red luggage. He also prepared a DHS employee who let my husband park in a no-parking zone to wait for my mother to be wheeled out of baggage claim by an airline employee.

Sometimes we think where are You? He is there with us every step of the way.