TOP 1%...ME?

It was the final flight for the week's assignment last Friday, and we were scheduled to "get out of school early" about 1:30 p.m.  That just doesn't happen very often.  Most of the time our last flight arrives after 9 p.m. following a really long day.  So, this was a treat--and it was Valentine's Day besides.  Louis said he would plan something fun for us to do that evening.  I was looking forward to it and eager for the trip to be over.

Instead of being the last flight attendant off the plane like I usually am, because my position has to "sweep" the cabin and check that the doors are disarmed, the coffee makers off, the lavatories empty, and there is nothing in the overhead bins, I finished that assignment and muscled my way by the other four flight attendants who were chatting about who knows what.  So I was number one off the plane.

As I was going up the jetway toward the gate area, I saw first one supervisor, then a second supervisor, and then more supervisors.  My first thought was, "Did something go wrong on our flight?"  With Instagram and all the other social media and phone cameras, we are sometimes met by supervisors who have already received some kind of complaint connected to the execution of the service, passenger treatment by crew members, or passenger dissatisfaction of some kind.

But the supervisors greeted me with big smiles and a negative to my question, "Is there something wrong?"  No.  They said they had come to see me.  My mind raced again.  It wasn't my birthday.  It wasn't my company anniversary.  WHY would they be coming to see me?

They waited until all of the flight attendants deplaned and told them to stick around, too.  Then one of the supervisors presented me with an award--something new the company has instituted for recognition of  a flight attendant's embodiment of the CORE 4 principles that are our daily guide at United.

SAFE     CARING     DEPENDABLE     EFFICIENT

Then another supervisor read a description of events leading to my being chosen to receive the TOP FLIGHT AWARD in Denver for this quarter.  You may remember reading my blog from last September in which I chronicled the whole adventure of three high school girls going with me to Albuquerque and back in  Shadow of a Job).  That was the reason for the award.

Each domicile gets to pick one flight attendant each quarter.  Then from that pool of all of those award winners, just one flight attendant will be chosen as Top Flight for the year. Apparently, these flight attendants represent the top 1% in the company's 26,000 flight attendant group.  

Wow!  I didn't even know there was any kind of recognition award like this.  I felt uncomfortable being center stage while all of this was going on.  People going up and down the concourse were stopping out of curiosity to see why the pictures and the little ceremony.  I'm pretty sure I acted subdued--because I didn't know HOW to act.   I like being in the background, the peon in the economy section of the plane doing the work without a lot of fanfare.  A simple thank you, maybe, or even a written note like some I have received in the past.  

But this experience with the girls at Roosevelt High School here in my little town of Johnstown was a fun thing, something I didn't even think of as being a BRAND AMBASSADOR for United.  Something that didn't put me out there as a hustler or an over-achiever.  Just checking to see if their request to shadow me in my job for their speech class was a doable thing.  I was glad it was.  They liked it and had a good time.  I liked being able to do that for them.  End of story.  

Anyway, it was my one day of fame at United Airlines.  And I was pleased that someone thought it was worthy of notice.

1% in this case is a BIG number for me.  It made me feel like my contribution in my own way is important, too.  

THANK YOU, UNITED FOR MY LITTLE FLAME OF FAME!

 

P.S.  I don't know where the supervisors got some of the information, but somehow they mistakenly thought Johnstown was MY hometown and Roosevelt High School was MY alma mater.  No matter, the rest of it was okay.

SADDENED....

While I was writing a letter to a friend not too long ago, I wanted to address a comment she made about her newly married daughter now moving into the realm of "friend" instead of parent/child.  Her observation hit a memory chord, and I wanted to share with her a comment which one of my own children once said about the transition of our relationship from parent/child to friend a few years ago.  I couldn't remember exactly how he put it, but I knew exactly where to find what he said. 

It was in the "book" my kids gave me when I turned 60 years old in 2005.  Apparently, Brittany came up with the idea and spear-headed the project by having each write twelve things about me. (Some of those 12 were written by grandchildren.)  Brittany then turned those comments over to Burgandy who cleverly compiled them into a loose-leaf binder.   Hence the title:  "60 REASONS WHY MOM IS THE BEST".

It didn't take long to find the heart-warming note Harold wrote.  It was #22.  

"Mom is always there when you need help and even when you don't .  I remember many instances when I was in college when I just wanted to talk to someone.  I would pick up the phone, sometimes at 11 or 12 at night, and would call Mom just to talk or ask her advice.  My college experience was metamorphic for me because it was the time when my mom turned from being my mom to being my friend who is my mom."  

After I finished the letter I was writing, I decided to re-read the "book".  

Wow!  What a wonderful person I was!  My children pulled out all the stops and lauded me in so many different ways...even my cooking, which was never more than basic and sometimes subpar.

Brice said I was approachable and got along with all of his high school friends who enjoyed being in our home.  

I helped out now and then by taking care of  toddler Orion  and picking up older sister Chardonnay from school when Burgandy was sick.  And I even lived 30 minutes away!

Didn't matter I might not have a clue what he was talking about, Schuyler wrote that I was always willing and interested to talk about his interests and passions.

"...putting you in my pocket" was the expression  Brittany remembered me saying when she had a test or something important going on in her life. Like a supporting hug long distance.

Here are some others:

• Mom is fun, a great supporter, considerate, thoughtful, a good listening ear, made each feel like an only child, created a warm and inviting house, had all the family join in the fun events even if they are not there in person, always said "I love you" and "I am proud of you".  
• 
  
• Took risks to make sure her kids were happy.  A hard worker.  Exemplified a love of the gospel.  Small presents and cards arriving at just the right time.  Saw the humor in embarrassing situations.  Free with compliments.  Always stayed in touch on a regular basis whether by phone or mail.  Creative with a limited budget by staging home-made everything--holiday parties, games, and fun Family Home Evenings.
• 
  
• Then there were comments about compassion, helping others feel their own worth, donating to all kinds of service and humanitarian projects, and making it a priority to spend time with her grand kids.  Sharing what my work itinerary was going to be for my next trip with United.
• 
  
• They mentioned my personal strength during trials.  Being in tune with their feelings and trials.  A great teacher in class and in life.  A good homemaker.  A savvy dresser.  Full of facts and knowledge to help in proofing papers and with homework.
• 
  
• And...I was a real person who blew up when pushed to limits but also able to rejoice when something good happened to me.

And on and on and on.  Good, loving comments all from the perspective of children still not so many years from that basic Nichols Family experience.  

But where did THAT person they commented about go in the almost 15 years since that wonderful gift from my children and grandchildren?  I am saddened that so many of their opinions are no longer descriptive of the person I have become.  I hardly even remember the person they were talking about as they wrote fondly from their memories.

I know all of our circumstances have changed. 

My work schedule made it more and more difficult to have that annual super summer spectacular, as well as the monthly Nichols Family Home Evenings at Sweetbriar.  

My children have faced some pretty daunting experiences of their own with health, employment, and relationships.  Their time has been taken up with making a living and making that living worthwhile. Their children grew up and as they did, the focus for each rightly centered on the nucleus of their own  families.  

After reading over the several pages in that precious binder, I am reminded that LIFE will never remain the same as it once was--even though it seemed at the time it would always be thus.  I am saddened at some of the changes, but hope that the years ahead will give another opportunity to re-establish some of those personal and family ideals that made us uniquely NICHOLS.

So, I'm putting on a happy face and looking forward to perhaps re-establishing some of those great traits my children remarked on when I was still a "youngster" of 60!  

It could happen.....

A-NUMBER ONE !

We've got some pretty bright kids in the Nichols Family!  

Cameron was on the Dean's list for Fall 2019 Semester with a 4.00.  She

is in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.

Here is the link  https://news.ucdenver.edu/deans-list-fall-2019/?utm_source=CUDNews-STDNT-Tue-Jan-21-2020&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=&utm_content=Fall-2019-Deans-List

This is what the notice says before the students are listed in their respective colleges. 

Every semester, each school and college publishes a Dean’s List honoring students who demonstrate high scholastic achievement.

CU Denver uses a fixed criterion across all schools and colleges for determining eligibility for the Dean’s List. This policy applies to undergraduate students. For fall and spring semesters, students must successfully complete nine graded hours in the semester. In the summer semester, students must complete six graded hours. 

Yea, Cameron!  Way to go!  Congratulations!

We need to hear more about the accomplishments of our Nichols Kids--2nd Generation.  Send all good news to Momma G and she will fill her "A Nichols Worth Blog" with all the good news you send!

IT'S ALL IN THE TIMING....

Life is all about timing....and most of what we do is hit and miss with what we would like to do or what we think should happen.  Events are usually poised a point or two up or down the scale from each other.  Rarely, do we get to "nail it on the head" with what we want or even wish could happen.

CASE IN POINT:

I wrote a blog on the 19th of January that bemoaned the fact there are no instruction manuals for relationships like grandparent/grandchild or navigating the tricky waters of being an in-law.  And not even two weeks later I opened up the online Meridian Magazine to find a headline that read:  "Your Influence as a Grandparent Is Up to You".  Richard and Linda Eyre are a couple who have spent their lives writing and lecturing about parenting relationships and other pertinent issues like life-balance that affect all of us at one time or another.  They have now turned their attention to grandparenting, since, as they pointed out in this article, we will probably be grandparents for a longer time in our lives  than the time we spent as parents with children in our home.  Their first acknowledgement was that there is little being written or spoken about grandparenting compared to the avalanche of material to help in the parenting process.  So, they have filled this void with two books.  One by Linda is about grandmothering.  Richard wrote the other one about being a grandfather. Looks like I got to the party a little late.  It's all about timing....

Their first premise is that grandparents now have more time simply because  we are living longer.  So, what do we plan to do with that gift of time?  That's an important question when couched in the doctrine of Exaltation which has at its very core extended families and in turn the links that grandparents can institute.

The next premise is that we need to self-evaluate "how much of our time and mental energy we are devoting" to our grandchildren and "how deliberate and thoughtful we are about the time we spend with them, about what we can do for them, about the relationship we want with them now and for the rest of our lives."

I know I'm not Grandparent #1 in their discussion.  I don't live in an adult community, golfing or filling my time with other empty pursuits.

Some of the things I do do constitute the definition of Grandparent #2.  I interact with them now and then when it fits into my work schedule.

For sure I am not Grandparent #3 who is at the ready whenever there is a "need" and sacrifice my own life to help my kids with their kids.

I'm not sure I even come close to Grandparent #4, one who can teach her grandkids what their parents can't as I take a role as "an essential and eternal part of an organized three generation family."    A legacy or "a monument of understanding and integrity and courage and unconditional love inside their minds and hearts that will stand forever."

Apparently, this last is the kind of grandmother my roommate at BYU had and other people I have known whose grandparent's death was a severe loss to them.  I didn't have that kind of relationship with my grandmothers.  And certainly not with my grandfathers who had been dead for a long, long time by my advent into the world.

In other words  (actually the Eyre's words):

• How do I maximize my time with my grandchildren?
• Do I know what they love?  Do they know what I love?
• Am I teaching them about our family narrative--stories of their ancestors and where they came from?
• What role do I play in teaching them the gospel?
• Do I spend quality time with each of them or send messages of support and love if they live far away?
• When they are in my home, am I asking them questions about important things?
• What will they remember about me?
• What legacy do I want to leave that will help light the path ahead of them?
• How do I make each one feel that he/she is my favorite because of his or her unique gifts and problems?

Obviously, each situation is different for all the grandparents out there in Baby Boomer land.  But the Eyres conclude with the thought that no matter what our circumstances, grandparents can make a difference in their grandchildren's lives.  

I am on a quest to do that.  So, I will be talking with each of my children to see where I have made it--and where I missed the mark.   Then I hope to formulate a plan to improve my relationship with each grandkid so that I am not some nebulous person out there on the outer fringes of their existence.

Wish me luck!