Counseling On An Airplane Ride

Flying on an airplane has become one of my favorite pastimes. The landing at our destination especially. This was a business trip my husband and I were going on. I would swim, tan and hang out in the hotel while he worked. He was selling cardio and respiratory pharmaceuticals.

Because I get plane sick, and I do better in a window seat, we ended up sitting separate but close to each other. I was in the window seat while he was sitting on the aisle seat.

There was a woman in the seat between us that my husband started to visit with while I quickly dozed. I had taken the standard meclizine that would keep me from getting sick. I would sleep until we landed. It didn't matter if I had a full nights sleep or not.

Almost to our destination there was a bit of turbulence that woke me. We were less than an hour from landing when I looked at my watch.

When I woke, I noticed the hubby was into a book he wanted to read on the flight. The woman next to me was sitting staring out the window in my direction but didn't appear to be looking at anything.

I greeted her and apologized for sleeping the whole trip. She said it was okay and said that she had a nice visit with my husband and understood my circumstances. She appeared grim and had trouble smiling.

It was just like him to tell everyone about my plane sickness. I was sure he probably told her to watch her feet just in case I started to throw up as he had already told someone else that another time when we were flying.

When I asked if she was flying alone, she said that she and her husband had gotten the last seats on the plane and he was just across the aisle and up one row. She pointed to him. He appeared to be reading too.

I told her that she probably could have gotten someone to change seats. Then I said I know my husband would have traded with him. She said it was okay and that she would be with him soon enough. When I asked if they were on vacation, she said her father had just died.

Then it went from more talking to her sobbing and hugging me as we were free to leave the plane. She was hugging me and sobbing on my shoulder, as I could see her husband looking at me and I am sure wondering who I was. My husband was just shaking his head.

We said our goodbyes and she thanked me.

My work as a grief counselor was responsible for her doing some grief work on the plane. She needed to cry and to talk about whatever she needed to talk about and couldn't with just anyone.

After we landed, and my husband had gone to get the rental car, I went to wait and when fifteen minutes or so went by, I went to the window in time to see the woman who sat next to me on the plane laughing and talking excitedly to what appeared to be her family.

When she saw me in the window, she looked even more excited as she pointed at me and told them about me. They all waved and smiled and one even blew me a kiss!

After this experience, I felt I needed to get back to work! In my second marriage, my husband told me that if I wanted to, I could take a break from working. I took him up on that. And it wasn't for long.

About a week before this trip, I told him that I may need to go back to work as when staying in a hotel while he worked, I would get to know some older women better than their husbands of fifty years!

In retirement now I get what I need from counseling weekly. Working very part-time. One group a week. I have been looking for a replacement for myself, and know that it may not be a good idea after writing about the last time I took a break from counseling.

I have told the director that I could be a substitute for that group.