Deja vu or history repeating itself?

37 years ago I traveled overnight to Ireland, arriving on my birthday! Deja vu or history repeating itself? What a trip that was. I was young and impressionable so imagine my delight when the crew walked down the aisle singing Happy Birthday at midnight with a chocolate cake in hand, which I shared with the people who were awake on the plane ( my sister missed out as she slept the entire way).

Little did I know how much my life would change because of that trip that was only supposed to be a year in Dublin. . . .

But the experience of flying was different in those days - the cutlery was stainless steel, not plastic; there were individual hand soaps in the bathroom; the uniforms were smarter and the crew were called stewards & stewardesses; the cockpits were not locked before take-off - I doubt anyone even thought of terrorist attacks in those days.

So it's no wonder that I have always enjoyed flying and have rarely slept on a flight to anywhere regardless of the time of day or night. Afraid of missing out on something, perhaps.

DJ does not have the same outlook. He is sleeping as I write, stretched out between Jonathan & I, although the 6 or so hours of sleep will not sustain him. Methinks we will all be napping after Nana Betty's breakfast.

No cake this year, but we did manage a few glasses of wine en route. The cutlery won't fall into my handbag the way it used to into my Mum's (I did love those little forks with the maple leaf on them) and there are no soaps to stuff in our pockets. But I still can't sleep, happy to watch the sunset out the window and write as I wait for the sunrise on the other side of the Atlantic, knowing that when DJ wakes up, it really will be my birthday and we will be home again. . . . . . just for a little while.

PS I don't expect this to be a life changing trip, but I do know it will be a lot of fun and one heck of an experience for DJ, one that I hope he remembers in years to come, even if he slept the entire way across the Atlantic, much like Susie did 37 years ago today!