Airplane ride home....

I was around 7 years old and on an airplane ride back from Florida. My family and I had enjoyed a week long vacation over spring break. But we were all tired out from the trip and eagerly awaiting our plane to land in Minneapolis. About 75% of the people on our flight were peacefully sleeping, including my oldest brother and sister, along with my parents. But me and my other brother, being the "littleuns" that we were-could not seem to get any shut eye. It was prtty late at night so it was pitch dark out. Yet, staring out the window at the places below us was exhilarating. Seeing all of the shining lights and the baseball fields from that distance was quite the site for us kids.

The flight was going well. All was still peaceful. And then as I looked out the window, I had seen a streak of lightning. Then another. By that time, I had gone in a daze and lost myself in the darkness while peering out the window. But when the lightning starting coming, I broke free of my "trance" and was instantly interested. Then, the rain starting pouring down. Although I took great interest in the lightning, lightning AND rain was another story in my eyes. I'm not a big fan of storms and this kind of put me on the edge.

A few moments later, one of the pilots came on the intercom and reported that we would be approaching some turbulence and to buckle up. Almost right after he stopped talking, our plane must have dropped 100 feet. Everyone had woke up and didn't know what had happened. Then some minor turbulence hit us and finished with another big bump. Then in the midst of the darkness, the outside of the plane was surrounded by an instant streaming light. At the same time, our plane dropped a little bit again. We had been struck by lightning. Baby's were crying and people were looking around and exchanging terrified looks. It was such a scary moment for me, especially at my young age. While thinking of the worst, the pilot came on the intercom again and assured us that the "worst" was over. That was very comforting....that's for sure. But I will never forget that experience as it could have been worse.