A traveling suitcase

Dear all,
As David has written about his race, his training, and his reflections on returning to the Ironman after twenty-five years, I will write about the more mundane details of our lives. David successfully flew from Kona to L.A. to JFK and on to Jeddah, arriving on time, meeting the KAUST taxi driver holding a sign with his name, and happily making it home. We were all excited; Hayden was making dinner, and Logan was making a welcome home sign. After hugs David was telling us about the medal he won and some other things he had gotten, and he said, "Oh, maybe I should just go ahead and open my suitcase. I know I have some laundry." (An understatement, to be sure.)

He put the suitcase on the floor and commented on the fact that the handle on our new suitcase was already broken. He unzipped the bag and looked uncomprehendingly at little boy clothes with Spiderman on them. We all stared, afraid to accept that this was not David's suitcase, though it was identical to ours. A bit of a panic. What to do? I tried to get a ride with a friend back to the Jeddah airport, but he had too many other errands, so I arranged a taxi - though it could not go until 2:30 am. Finally, after a meal, David realized that we should both go, return the suitcase, and look for his. We borrowed our neighbors' car and drove back 70 km to Jeddah's Saudi terminal. An hour later and with a lot of help from several men who worked for Saudia Airlines, we had returned a suitcase which was not ours (but which was wanted by a young Spiderboy) and understood that David's suitcase had been tagged with the name of another traveler and had been sent to Brussels! We supplied all the information we could, were given a file number and a phone number, and headed home.

the traveling suitcase

We tried to call American Airlines because the agent in Kona was the one who had mistakenly tagged the bag incorrectly, and the bag had never left the control of that airline, though Saudia was now helping us. We got a clarification that Saudia had submitted correct documentation and was searching for the bag. The phone number, however, had not yet had anyone answer. Sigh. David sent an email to the baggage claim department for American Airlines in the Brussels airport. Did you know such an email existed? A few hours later, he received confirmation that a bag with the correct baggage claim number had been re-routed to Frankfurt and then on to Jeddah. I again called the ghostly number with never an answerer - and received an answer. Yes, his suitcase was in Jeddah at the North Terminal. Wow!

David and Hayden again borrowed a car and went to the Jeddah airport once more, hoping that the baggage claim ticket David had was actually for HIS bag and not someone else's bag. It was correct. The right suitcase was returned to him, and they have just returned home. Truly, despite it all, don't we have so very much to be grateful for?

Thanks for reading, Jennifer