Day 10 of our Carnival Glory Experience

We awake to our very last day and we know it will be a long day.  We are packed and are experiencing so many emotions, it is hard to know what we are really feeling. 

We have breakfast at 6:30 am and I am feeling good so I just have a banana along with my glorious juice.  We go back to our room for one last time to pick up our luggage and then we report to the lobby, along with 2700 other people.  Apparently, there is a delay by customs, for some reason.  People are encouraged to go to Deck 5 or 9 to wait in comfortable chairs.  The crowd is quite ugly actually so we go to Deck 5 and enjoy breath-taking views of the Miami skyline.  Finally, we see people starting to disembark so we go back to the lobby.  People are still cranky and rude and shoving and cutting in line.  So much for us being one big family.  

We are in line and it is hard to keep positive when everyone is pushing and shoving.  When, like a phoenix rising from the mist, is my Leo manning one of the last turns and pointing us in the right direction.  We get another chance to say good-bye and for the three of us to have a group hug.  

And then, one step from being off the ship, there is Cruise Director Dustin and we get to have a real conversation despite everyone trying to hurry us up.  We're talking to Dustin and we are not going to be rushed.  He gives up each another medal for being awesome cruisers !!

I step off the ship and on a tunnel to the terminal building where I can't believe how grateful I am to have this experience.  I am particularly grateful to Seven Clans of Thief River Falls for awarding me this awesome prize.  

Once we enter the terminal building, we no longer see any friendly Carnival employees and we see Customs Officials who are all business.  They can't decide which line Canadians should be in so we are shuffled from line to line for a while.  The air becomes very stale.  

Finally, we are through customs and outside in the fresh air and it is pretty sweet. There is no line for cabs which doesn't make much sense since there is a flat fee to the airport and the cheapest mode.  We get a chatty cab driver and as we travel by Marlin Stadium he tells us the scandal of its recent sale.  Very interesting story and we end up reading about it in the paper we buy at the airport, but we still feel like we got the inside scoop.  

Miami airport is as uninviting as I remember.  No one is happy to be leaving Miami and we have several hours to wait.  

We get on our way and land at Chicago around supper time.  Our next gate is very far and my body has reminded me that I am middle-aged so we decide to walk to our gate before getting something to eat.  Again, OHare airport is vibrant and alive and full of good energy, and the most intoxicating food smells.  By the time we get to our gate, our plane is already boarding.  

We board our small regional plane and check Winnipeg's temperature.  It is cold.  However, our flight is a total treat thanks to the best flight attendant I have ever encountered.  Lorne was amazing, professional, compassionate, and very hard working.  What a wonderful way to end our adventure.

We arrive in Wpg at 10:30 pm and I feel completely different.   We are both exhausted and decide we are starving but we can't expend any mental energy to decide what type of pizza to order.

I lie in my bed and start to remember my adventure.  I can't seem to remember anything that happened.  But, I do remember some other things.  I remember my reality.  I remember that I have been diagnosed with PTSD.  I know I have been living with a major depression for the past year.  I know I have generalized anxiety disorder.  I know I struggle to get out of bed in the morning.  I know that in the last ten days, I only had about 8 panic attacks, and normally I have that many every day.  

Thank you Carnival for letting me have this fantasy and a holiday from my depression.  It gives me hope that with considerable work on my part that I will be able to be that fun, out-going woman that I once was again.