I wish I could get Michael to tell this part of the story. He is the master story teller. We chide him as his stories tend to expand in adventure each time he tells them. He is absorbed in his ministry right now though, doing what he does.
Now, I might inform you, this is the boy that adventure follows. If it doesn't find him, he finds it. He has a flare for going all out at anything he does, even if it is not something he really ought to be doing. He probably would have played college sports but suffered at least six concussions before graduating from high school. These concussions include four while playing football, one as he was assaulted while hanging out at Ed's in Tahlequah, and one while playing basketball. He has survived at least two car wrecks in which the car was close to totalled. His international excursions include trips to Spain, Africa, and Haiti following the earthquake, among others. He enjoys living on the edge. On one family trip to Branson, the story goes he managed to sneak into one of the larger Hotel/Theaters and dive off the third floor balcony into the hotel pool. He was suspended from school on several occasions, one time for hacking into a teacher's computer and changing the grades of several students. The list goes on. This is only a small sampling of the adventures his mother and I have been privy to.
Anyway, back to the story at hand. Understand this several years later and a more mature Michael than afore mentioned. The plan was that as Jacob and I were heading Home he would be flying into Entebbe. We expected that our Planes would honestly meet somewhere in the air. Well, as the saying goes, things don't always go as planned, especially when it involves my eldest son.
All went well as far as getting out if the US and then things started getting a little crazy on the plane. One passenger evidently had a bit too much to drink and went crazy running around threatening passengers and crew members. He was finally constrained and they ended up having to make an emergency landing in France to have him removed from the plane. This of course put the plane behind schedule, so Michael ended up missing the one flight going from Istanbul into Entebbe for the next several days. So, there he was, stranded in Istanbul, Turkey for three days.
For more details:
As if that wasn't enough, there is more, much more. At some point Michael caught sight of Me and Jacob entering our flight out of Istanbul heading back home. He decided he should at least say hi. He told the head security guy what he wanted to do, so they let him through passport security without him even presenting his passport. Well, then he was motioned through the body bag scanner by another security guard. Of course they then expected him to show his ticket. When he didn't have a ticket the ticket lady called for security, but the head security guy (who let him through in the beginning) apparently waved Michael through, so he started down the aisle to our plane.
Well, evidently, there had been a breakdown in communication. A few seconds later he hears security running down the hallway and screaming at him. He turned around and was met by angered security. They grabbed him, handcuffed him, then led him away..
There he went, two security guards in front, one on each side, and two following. They walked him down the hallway through the food court, with onlookers starring and whispering as he walked by. It was almost as if in their eyes he was some kind of super hero or villain.
He was led through the food court and down a stair case two floors underground to an old fashioned interrogation room. He was interrogated for about 30-45 minutes before they finally concluded he was not a terrorist and let him go. He then exited the stairwell into the food court a free man. The onlookers watched him with surprise and suspicion, as they had just witnessed him being led in by a squad of security.
He made it through that fiasco only to find out he would be in Istanbul for three days before flying out to Entebbe. To boot his luggage was lost. My boy was stranded in Turkey for three days without luggage!
The upside was he was upgraded to first class when he finally did catch his flight. He says they evidently found his lag gage, because he watched from the plane as they loaded everybody's but his as his was then rolled back into the airport. He finally got his luggage five days later in Uganda.
He made it there though, and was a great help to the ladies during the time he was there. Lest you misunderstand me, and perceive me to be critical of his free spirit, understand it was his free spirit that led him to Uganda In the first place. It was his free spirit that found us our Emma and it was his free spirit that helped us bring him home. It is also his free spirit that continues to touch lives today and will continue to touch lives for years to come. Thank you, Michael, for bringing your precious younger brother into our lives.
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