That's what we call a "WHOA, big fella!" landing

"I'm really glad I'm still alive!"

Not the words you want to hear when you're on an airplane, and certainly not from your own child.

As Henry and I wrapped up our trip to Ohio visiting my family, we boarded the 9 AM flight to MSP. It was a little chilly on board, so I covered Henry with my jacket while we taxied. Once we were in the air, the cabin suddenly felt like an oven. Not a gradual rise in temperature, but a sudden skyrocketing up to intense heat. All of the passengers were fiddling with the dials that control the air flow, looking around the cabin to see if we were all feeling the heat. I started to fan Henry's face and he said, why are you pushing hot air on me? Excellent point!

Soon, the announcements began: "We know that there's a problem" and "Folks, we're looking into this, please bear with us." Then the alarms went off. That's when I reached over and tightened Henry's seat belt. He asked why I was doing this, and I told him we'd be returning to the airport soon. Sure enough, the captain came on the loudspeaker and told us we would indeed be returning to Columbus airport. When we descended to the runway, the captain stopped the plane IMMEDIATELY. There was no slow deceleration, no gradual decline in speed. We stopped. (And we applauded.) So hard and abrupt was our landing, that we had to deplane on the runway, and get back to the terminal in shuttles. According to the captain, the brakes melted. I was never so happy to step onto a runway and get some fresh air. That's when Henry made his "I'm so happy I'm alive" statement, which everyone laughed at, but I think we were all thinking, "So am I, kid!"

I knew right then we would be a day late getting home.

After a lovely night at the airport Holiday Inn, Henry and I arrived home to Daddy and our own beds. It will be a long time before we fly again. Later this year, we're heading up north and we'll be driving for about four hours. I can't wait.