The hero

A hero (masculine) is a person or main character of a literary work who, in the face of danger, combats adversity through impressive feats of ingenuity, bravery or strength, often sacrificing his or her own personal concerns for some greater good.

If my life were a literary work, Adam would be the hero.  That makes me the wife of the hero, which feels like a lucky place to be.

Saturday I washed all of Gavin's clothes and carefully hung up his church clothes so we would be all ready for Sunday.  We were going to leave church a little early, come home and feed him and then take him to the airport.  It was all planned and going to work very well.

Then on Saturday afternoon we heard from Gavin's parents.  They called because, where was he?  They were at the airport to pick him up and he...wasn't there.

What?!?!

It was one of those times when the world starts swirling and nothing makes sense.

So here's what happened.  Months ago, when Stephanie and I made the plan for Gavin to come, she told me the dates were the 22-31.  I marked it on my calendar.  You might as well say I wrote it in my blood.  When it's on the calendar, it's a done deal.

Later she sent the flight itinerary.  I noted the flight times.  I didn't even pay attention to the dates because I'm 1) an idiot and 2) see number one.

I thought I already knew the dates.

The dates had changed.

He was supposed to fly home on the 30th.

I apologized as best I could and Stephanie was, of course, very gracious and told me not to worry.  They would find another flight.

I said that we would pay the change fee because it was 1) my fault and 2) see number one.

Later in the evening I called Stephanie again to check on progress and she said they couldn't change the flight so were going to buy another ticket.

I felt so terrible.  

Adam, a.k.a. my knight in shining armor, pulled out his phone and said he would call Alaska Airlines and get the flight changed.  Meanwhile I called Brent and said, "Don't buy the ticket yet!"

He said, "I already asked to change the flight and they said no."

Adam is Adam though and he's really good at that sort of thing.  Soon enough, he had Gavin on a new flight and was chatting with the Alaska Airlines employee on the phone about someone also with a last name of Davis who lived in Orem and had taken her horseback riding.

I can't tell you how many times this scenario has played out.  Me, in distress.  Adam, to the rescue.

This has been a challenging summer and often, when I don't know where to turn in my own brain for peace, I turn to Adam.  He's a night owl and many nights, I can't sleep and stumble down the stairs to find him.  He stops whatever he is doing and turns his full attention to helping me.  He says the right things and listens and provides perspective.  He's not only good at convincing Alaska Airlines employees to help him.  He's also excellent at convincing me it's going to be OK.

The number one reason it's going to be OK is because I'm married to the hero.