What I Learned in 2013

It's time again for my annual post about what I learned in the year just closing.  I'm happy to say that I can still learn something every year - every day - and I hope I am a kinder, gentler person because of it.  With tongue firmly in cheek on a few of these and hand to my heart on others, here are some of the things I learned in 2013:

1. There is life after United.
2. Watching those we love grow older and more frail makes me feel helpless.
3. Buying a real airline ticket to make sure you get on the flight is pretty cool.  And miles are earned, too.
4. Money can change lives and change people, although not always for the better.
5. Just when I thought I had enough friends, my life expanded to welcome in more.  Those I'm talking about know who you are.
6. I am still good at taking exams, and I'm still the first one done.
7. People you least suspect can have terrible, hurtful secrets.
8. At 56 years old I can find a new career and love it with the enthusiasm of someone much younger.
9. My skills are transferable.
10. Therapy is a gift.
11. Real estate sales are far more about customer service than they are sales, which is why I love the new career.
12. Our capacity to love and forgive is immense.
13. 65 miles is really, really, REALLY far away when it's the distance between you and a 5 year old.
14. Saying I love you to people you love is important, no matter how much they know it.
15. A heart can be shattered, but love, time, understanding and attention will usually help mend it. 
16. Some things are worth working on.
17. Some things are not worth working on.
18. I can root against the UCLA Bruins when they are playing against my nephew and his Stanford Cardinal team.
19. Exercise really does help.
20. Watching a 5 year old learn letters, numbers, concepts and more is the coolest thing.  
21. Traveling with friends can surprise you.
22. I love to zipline.
23. Stanford is my 2nd favorite team, except when the Cardinal Men's water polo team is playing UCLA, then they are my favorite.
24. I despise studying, regardless of subject.  Not much has changed there in decades or ever.
25. Stopping the mind to just be in the moment is very, very hard.
26. Sometimes a box wine is just fine, although not all box wine is fine.
27. I don't miss my job at United.  Aside from the regular paycheck, that is.
28. Becoming friends with winery owners is fun and leads to good times with really good people.
29. I have a vital support system with some incredible friends.
30. Cancers still sucks.
31. "The Power of Now" is more like a super power.
32. I really can't sing, no matter how much I try.
33. My husband loves to take dance lessons.
34. Good intentions can be misconstrued and people can accuse you of things you never did, with no way to ever convince them otherwise.
35. I can survive anything.  Well, so far!

Because of United...

It's a time of reflection as the new year stands waiting there, next week, just a few days away.  Whether I stop to think about the past or not, 2013 will be here and then it will become the past, too.  Time marches on and all that. 

Today I am thinking about all that my employment at United has brought me:  a spouse, friends, travels, education, enlightenment, frustration, tears, family time, a good salary, security, health care, a future with a small pension, a 401(k), health benefits and flight benefits for life.  It might take me a few posts to highlight them all.  Let me reflect on the travel I have done because I have worked for an airline.  I'm sure I'll forget some places, there have been so many...

I grew up traveling, with my first plane flight on American Airlines to El Paso when I was not yet 3 years old.  That was followed by family vacations in the station wagon, driving across country to see my grandparents in Virginia and in Iowa (sometimes at their summer home in Minnesota); to see my mother's childhood home in Iowa and my dad's in Arkansas, to see every national and state park we could.  I hopped over the border to Mexico and to Canada.  I took my first trip to Europe in 1985, followed by one in 1986.  I left my job at EF Hutton Life Insurance/1st Capital Life Insurance with a one way ticket to Europe and stayed almost 6 months.

When I came back I needed a job.  What would better suit my wanderlust than a job with an airline?  When I started with United, in the Los Angeles reservations office, you had to work for the company for a year before you received flight benefits, but you were given 1 trip prior to that to try the product.  I flew to New York City for the very first time with my classmate and friend Claudia Blancett.  From there I hopped down to Washington, DC to visit my grandmother in Woodbridge, VA, then home.  Just a few months later the rules were changed to only 6 months seniority for the flight benefits and off to Maui I went with Kathi Porter.  And then you couldn't stop me.

New Orleans, Kauai, Honolulu, San Francisco, New York again, Washington again, Maine for shopping, anywhere in New England for snow and foliage, Colorado, Texas, Utah for skiing.  Buenos Aires with Carol Dreher and Costa Rica with Marcy Clarke for vacations. France with Peggy, Italy with Jayne.  Denmark to see family, England with Teri, Scotland with Laura, Ireland with Troy, cruises with Sharon, John and Keary.  I reacquainted with Cameron Larson, a guy from UCLA days, while on a connection in Denver.  We started dating and then it was Hawaii, New Orleans, San Francisco, Chicago, London and Paris with Cam.

In 1998 I took a job with United in Chicago, moving from my beloved San Diego to the Chicago suburbs in January.  This job with United Services, my favorite of my UA career, was selling line maintenance services to other airlines.  Airlines around the world.  This meant 200,000 miles a year in travel, negotiating contracts in Australia, China, Korea, Spain, England, Argentina, Thailand, and other places around the globe.  That photo at the top is me sitting in the captain's seat of the British Airways SST Concorde at Heathrow.  That's Matt Robinson on the right, to whom I was turning over the BA account when I left that job.  My first trip with the United Services job was to China.

I'll pick up on the next post where I went from there.