LOST (bag)

I was not expecting to have a good time during my non-stop flight across the country with Jack and my mother.  The three cats traveled in the "pet safe" cargo area, and by the time we got every living creature checked in, paperwork filled out and finally past security, it felt like the end of a very long day.  But we knew it had only just begun.

We had bought Jack his own seat because we thought it would be better. But since he was under 2 years old, he had to also have his car seat.  He didn't like being strapped into his car seat and he screamed through take off, landing and whenever else he was strapped in.  And I mean he SCREAMED. And also, he screamed when he was not strapped into his seat.  He screamed for the entire six hour flight, except for the hours I spent carrying him up and down the aisles and the hour and a half that he was asleep (yes, he fell into a deep deep sleep after one of those hour-long screaming jags).

I had not slept well the previous three nights. Indeed, after a relapse of double pink eye last Monday, I did the eye drops again. I had an allergic reaction to them that caused all the skin around my eyes to turn puffy and red, and also caused some blood vessels in one of my eyes to break, leaving me with some thick red lines and spots on the white part of my right eye. The next night I got Jack's 24 hour stomach flu and puked up my pizza, mostly hitting the toilet, but running into the bathroom so quickly that some of the vomit hit the floor, the outsides of the toilet, the toilet brush, the floor, and the brand new shower curtain purchased just for the open houses. 

So by the time we flew on Friday I was beyond tired. But the end of the endless packing and cleaning had arrived and I felt like soon there would be a time when I could rest. I knew the flight would suck so I wasn't surprised when it turned into such an ordeal.

We took our time getting off the plane. I changed Jack. My mother and I both stopped in the rest room. By the time we got down to the baggage carousel there were two bags circling on it and no one left around.  One of the bags was one of the two I had checked.  But my other bag was no where to be seen.

The missing bag contained all the things I wish I could have carried on the flight if I hadn't also had to carry on the car seat, the food for Jack, the laptop computer, the stroller, the diaper bag. 

The missing bag contained all the things that were too important to leave for the movers.  Not necessarily in order of importance it contained:

1. The baby Doppler
2. All my valuable and sentimental jewelry (for example, my late grandmother's rings, my late sister-in-law's necklace)
3. The ziplock bag of important papers including the pink slips for our cars, our birth certificates and Jack's social security card.
4. The file folder of bills including some of those convenience checks from the credit card company that I kept just in case we might need them during this transition.
5. The file folder with all our tax info, including our W2 forms with our social security numbers.
6. Jack's favorite toy that he sleeps with every night.
7. Most of the clothes I packed for Jack.
8. The video baby monitor.
9. Jack's medical records.
10. The medical records from my current pregnancy.
11. Notes from interviews I did for the feature story I have due this week.
12. The charger for my cell phone.
13. Prescription meds.
14. The kitty Valium.
15. Prenatal vitamins.

I keep thinking of other things that I tucked in that bag.  I am torn up with anxiety that it is still missing, now 72 hours after we touched down at the Newark, NJ airport.  By the way, the airline we took was Continental. I chose them because of the cats. 

They have no information about my bag.  They initially told me that it was loaded on the plane in San Francisco (and we had a direct flight).  But now they say that information is only 90-something percent accurate. (It could have fallen off the belt as it was being loaded onto the plane, they say).

They have sent out system wide alerts about the bag, but no one has found it yet.  I am absolutely bereft. I think the loss of my grandmother's ring and the other sentimental jewelry is the most horrible part. All the rest of it I can fix.  It will be very very time consuming and unpleasant, but I can do the fraud alerts, cancel the credit card, get the pink slips reissued, buy a new Tad, request the medical records again and pay for them again, do other interviews for the story, and buy new clothes for Jack.  But some things are irreplaceable.

After I filed the lost bag report at the airport that night we went and got the cats and then it took me another hour to go get the rental car and get back to pick up my mother, Jack and the cats.  I drove another hour and a half to get to my mom's house. 

Since then I've installed a wireless network at my mom's house (so I can check my email and post to this blog), and I fixed their tivo.  This made me feel good for the first time since the bag was lost because I felt there was something I could control.

But I want my bag back, and I'm afraid.

Comments

[Aurelia]

Oh God...what a nightmare. These are the things I always want to keep with me, and for whatever reasons, can't either carry-on or keep in my sole posession.

Especially things like sentimental antique jewellery. That would be really hard. I'm so sorry. I hope they get it back soon.

[Eva]

What a trip from hell, I am so so sorry! I hate that sick feeling when something important has been lost, and then you forget for a second, and then when you remember again it's just as bad a feeling. I very much hope they get it back to you very, very soon. I wish I could help! I already hate Continental for stranding me in DC overnight once but now I hate them even more.

[Plain Jane Mom]

Oh, that is terrible!! I am so sorry to hear about this!

[maggie]

I am so sorry - that sounds like it was an awful flight, and the lost bag is insult added to injury. I sure hope that Continental finds it for you.