Monday, February 23, 2026
(Part 2 of …)
(click here to listen to or read today’s scriptures)
The Club DFW
Let the words of my mouth
And he meditations of my heart
Be acceptable in thy sight,
O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.
There were issues at the airport – many flights, not just mine, delayed and then cancelled. I couldn’t feel sorry for myself. Eating a little lunch at the extravagantly named Plaza Premium Lounge, I sat between two guys checking their flights. The three of us probably knew just enough to be dangerous.
Two young sons asked their dad every few minutes about their family’s flight to Salt Lake City. They wanted to ski. On my other side, I met Woody, a retired Delta pilot and his wife. Traveling twenty years on no-charge-employee-standby, they were accustomed to delays. And they were happy to share stories while we ate our soup and sandwiches.
Departure to Wilmington eventually settled in at 11:27 pm, a bit more than 13 hours after I had landed. I rode the Skylink train around the five terminals twice, walked awhile and then just sat. An 82-year-old lady sitting beside me checked her watch. “I’ve walked 8½ miles today,” she told me. She seemed a little restless. After her husband Wally died, she decided to splurge on first class seats for a trip to Auckland, New Zealand. She had arrived in Dallas at 7:30 am and her delays and cancellations had her leaving at midnight.
When the Son of Man comes in his glory
And all the angels with him,
He will sit upon his glorious throne
And all the nations will be assembled before him.
And he will separate them one from another.
By late afternoon I needed to charge some devices, so I settled in. I had been reading Report to Greco on my kindle, but my eyes felt heavy. Â Sleepy, I noticed a Hispanic mom charging phones across from me, while she kind-of kept track of her three kids while they ran around and played. I guess I fell asleep.
More voices. I opened my eyes and smiled at the woman across from me. “I’ve enjoyed listening to you be patient with your kids.” Two women on either side of me laughed. “She’s not the mom. Those folks left.” I felt warmly accepted in the conversation these former strangers had been having. “I don’t have any kids. Yet. I’d like to, though. Just need to find a man. . .” a 50-year old biology teacher returning from a conference in Mexico thought differently. “My mom had 7 kids. She came from a family of 21. (What?) I teach biology. I tell my own children not to have any kids themselves. I don’t want to be a grandma.” She was smiling, and she was serious.
The third lady agreed, sort of. “I’m 51 and kind of like the single thing.” I showed them videos of Miles and Jasper and Finn, growing teeth and losing teeth, showing off their filming skills and laughing, laughing, laughing. They laughed too.
I told them I needed to look for a new neck pillow at a thrift shop in Wilmington. “My best friend lives in Wilmington. We went to a great thrift shop!” The 51-year-old texted her friend. No response.
Finally I packed up my cords and stuff and said goodbye., walked aound a couple corners and up an escalator to the mezzanine. I was settling into a big black easy chair for one more nap waiting to get into the other club I qualified to enter and closed my eyes. Someone poked me.
“I found you! My friend called from Wilmington. The thrift shop is Rosie Revolution! Just thought you’d like to know.” And I felt loved.
After a couple of hours reading and resting in the second club I qualified to enter, I listened to a talkative bartender, Jeremy, explain to a curious 25-year-old who didn’t drink (until tonight)  how to make an espresso martini, Old Fashioned, Rob Roy, etc … and how to choose drinks with low sugar content. By 10 pm, half an hour before closing, Jeremy had emptied a large jar of maraschino cherries. Nothing left but juice. High sugar content! Rather than pouring it down the drain, though, he poured it into a 20-ounce glass.
Jeremy looked at his helper – quiet guy, young, cleaning up. “I’ll give you ten dollars cash if you drink this cherry juice down without stopping.” Everyone was laughing. “Sure. Absolutely. $10? Really?” And then he drank it, all of it, and several of us applauded, and Jeremy forked over the 10 bucks.
A week later on my return flight, I stopped in again at The Club and asked the young guy, as he was checking me in, how he liked the cherry juice. He looked up, surprised, then recognized me.
“You were there! You know, I slept great. The sugar didn’t bother me at all.” He smiled and found me a place to sit.
I was hungry and you gave me food,
I was thirsty and you gave me drink,
a stranger and you welcomed me.
 (Leviticus 19, Psalm 19, 2 Corinthians 6, Matthew 25)
(posted at www.davesandel.net)
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