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Fear of Flying
And an unconventional healing
Running to catch their flight, Joe and Suzy pushed their physical stamina to its limits. Weighed down by luggage, their hearts seemed ready to explode. They would not have had to run except that their flight was cancelled so they had to book another one that was boarding at the far other end of the airport. They had four minutes to make it to the gate.
Joe was fond of telling the story of the very last time he and Suzy ever flew. They made it to the gate without a second to spare but right after the plane took off into the sky it had to turn around and land so that Joe could be taken to the hospital to be treated for a heart attack.
“Although we love her dearly, Greta Thunberg had nothing to do with our decision to never fly again,” Suzy would say.
“We had never even heard of her back then,” Joe would then say. “It’s not about our carbon footprint; it’s about my heart. I just don’t ever want to risk going through that again.”
“It was about a year later when Joe and I bought our boat. Now it’s the only way we travel.”
“Is that why you guys didn’t come to my wedding in Wichita?” Suzy’s cousin once asked.
“I’m afraid so. We’re so sorry, dear cousin. But now we only go to places that are accessible by boat.”
