It's official

Back in April, I mentioned that our spring break trip to North Carolina involved a little side trip to Atlanta for Nacho and me. It was the interview of a lifetime at Delta Air Lines and we both understood a lot was riding on it. There were prep courses and a mock interview to get ready for and the 6 weeks between the phone call and the interview date were full of mood swings from giddy optimism to complacent dejection. It would be okay if he didn't get it, but it would be amazing if he did. And then he got the handshake and welcome onboard that meant it was all happening. Our lives were changing yet again. And somehow this time, it felt like it was really destiny. I told Nacho a year ago when he took the job with JetBlue that I had a funny feeling he wouldn't be there long. Maybe I was just holding out for what I thought he had always wanted--to work for an international airline with reach to Europe and all over the world--but it really didn't feel like JetBlue was his ultimate destination. In truth, I didn't have any idea where he would end up.  But later this fall and winter when he mentioned a couple of friends and coworkers getting hired by Delta, I felt like he was telling me something. He wanted that call. He didn't know if he'd get it, but he wanted it. And then it came. He texted me while I was shopping at Costco one sunny afternoon in February and I couldn't believe he had an interview.  It was as if my premonition was all working itself out. Finally our past was merging with the future he'd been telling me about for 16 years. The one where he would put in hours and hours to earn the qualifications to fly some of his dream airliners for one of the best air lines in the world. 

So yeah, I'm pretty proud of him. I'm proud of his dedication to this job which has included a decade of working his way up through the regionals to get to this point. All those crazy schedules, holidays away, and the low pay of the first few years. Things improved and we found our way through it mostly by prioritizing our quality of life. We wanted to live in base here in the city and make the most of his time off. And we have. Even my decision to stay home for these past few years has been influenced by the fact that it's easier to have one constant parent when the other is gone often. I know it would have been the same anywhere, and that starting over was just a raw deal, but seeing him work for JetBlue on reserve with the same shitty schedule and only slightly less crappy pay he had 10 years ago has been hard. He's done it with no bitterness, but still it's been a stressful nine months at the bottom of the totem pole again. We had hopes that he would be able to pick up additional time on his days off which never materialized. I've watched bills sit longer and worried from month to month how we were going to make this first year or two with a pay cut work.  So to hear that he'll already have 45 people below him in NYC when he comes out of training is like hearing he's on the way back up. Things are moving. It's a very good time to be joining the company and we both know it. Last Tuesday they flew me down to join him for a banquet at the Delta Flight Museum outside the airport in Atlanta. It was a really special evening and I felt that this company was making an effort to include spouses and families in a way that I have never seen in the air lines. It's hard to really meet Nacho's coworkers or see his day-to-day work life most of the time, so this was a nice change. And thanks to Carmen and her mom, I was actually able to make it. I flew out on Tuesday morning and returned by preschool pick up time on Wednesday. My village rallied around me and even in that, there was a feeling of life moving forward--a new perspective on myself and how my girls could handle our absence.  

So we'll see where all this goes. Right now, we're still in the honeymoon phase and training is only just beginning. The hard month of mid-June to mid-July is yet to come. Nacho will be back in Atlanta and then Miami for training on the 757/767.  He might very well have overnights in Madrid or Malaga, London or Amsterdam before the summer is over. It's his dream and I'm so excited to see it all unfold. No one tells you when you meet someone and fall in love that you if you are lucky, you will get to ride with them on their own fantastic journey. It's hard to keep the end goal in sight when you are mired down in life's obstacles. But we've done okay. We still make each other laugh. And I think he knows that no one is more excited for him right now than me. I know how much he deserves this.