The Silver Ring

Shipping Out

The trip to Washington came at the end of the year. When I started back to school in January, my last semester before graduation, things began to speed up. Before I knew it, there were midterm, then finals, and graduation.

I had been accepted at the local Verdun Community College. They were very pleased with my plans to help in Germany. The school would accept as credits my work there. It was called advanced placement. I would be given a test when I returned. It might be listed as a history class, anthropology or the like. I would get as many credits as I would have taking classes.

The work was scheduled to begin in early July. I had to make sure I got my passport and other documents. I was excited, I would be traveling alone, on my own for the first time, and going to Europe to boot. I got a little nervous too. I was young, would I fit in with the others who would be working on the project. I understood many of them were in college or even graduates from colleges. Here I was, a newly graduated high school student.

All these thoughts flooded my mind as we left Verdun for Detroit. Dad drove, Mom and the kids came too. I checked in at the ticket counter. I was given my boarding pass, and headed toward the security check point. Mom was hanging on me. My sister and brother even seemed sad that I was leaving. Dad was trying to be stoic. When I got to the checkpoint, my mother gave me a kiss, my sister did too. My brother grabbed on to me and told me that he did not want me to leave. I had to shake the little rug rat off my leg. Dad gave me a hug and I was into the line, taking off my shoes and belt and being totally confused.

The flight plan was from Detroit to New York and change to a flight to Berlin. The flight from Detroit did not take too long. There was a lay over for a few hours in New York. I went to the gate for the Berlin flight. I must  have looked uneasy, the woman at the counter struck up a conversation with me. She told me they would call the passengers by seat rows and just to keep listening so that I would not be in the  mad crush at the end trying to find my seat and getting luggage under the seat in front or in the overhead bin.

The flight was called and I managed to get to my seat, stow my carry-on and prepare for take off. Little did I know, I would not be coming back for a long time. I didn't sleep much. I tried watching the movie or listening to the music, but I didn't do much good. I kept looking at my watch, how much longer will this be.

I looked out the window and I could see land. The pilot advised we had just crossed the North Sea and were flying over Denmark. We would be in Berlin in about an hour. I could feel the plane starting to descend The ground got closer and closer. I could see buildings, rivers, highways, rail lines. The plane got lower and lower, and I heard the wheels hit the runway with a jolt.

The pilot put the flaps up to slow down the plane. We taxied to the terminal. A member of the flight crew made the announcement. Ladies and Gentlemen welcome to Berlin. Please stay in your seats with your seat belt fastened until the captain has turned off the seat belt sign. Have a great day. We hope you will fly again with  us soon.