When I entered the airport one Thursday at the beginning of October, I took a look at the arrivals board and knew I was in luck. Due to the effects of Hurricane Joaquin, many incoming flights were delayed. This meant there would be several lonely people with nothing to do but wait. It seemed storms did have their benefits. I had at least 20 minutes before the next flight. So, instead of stalling, I quickly approached an older woman sitting a few seats down from me.
After casual remarks about how difficult it was to hear the airport announcements over the rush of the fountain that runs down the center of the McGhee Tyson airport, I asked if I could speak with her for a minute. She looked at me, suddenly wary.
“Are you a Jehovah’s Witness? Because if so, I don’t really want to talk,” she responded.
I couldn’t help glancing at my skinny jeans, boots and ruffled shirt. I didn’t exactly think I resembled a Jehovah’s Witness. Perhaps, this was just her tactic to shoo me away.
“No, no I’m just a college student,” I said, hoping that the remark was somewhat reassuring.
“Oh, are you going to ask me for money?” she asked.
It was becoming increasingly obvious to me that the lady I had chosen to approach had some spunk, but I was also aware that she still hadn’t said no. I settled into the seat next to her, assuming it would be best if I just dove in. I explained who I was and told her about my thesis project and my blog, before eventually asking if I could interview her. She seemed a bit skeptical, so I went on to assure her that there was no pressure. At last, she agreed but not without warning me I had chosen the wrong person. She told me she was no good at rambling. Thankfully, this statement quickly proved to be untrue.
Her name is Susie Stephenson. She is 74 years old, but given her energy, you probably wouldn’t guess it. She grew up in Tennessee, moved to upstate New York for a time and then moved back to Tennessee “25 or 30 years ago.”
That day, she was waiting on her daughter whose flight from Charlotte was delayed. Her daughter was flying from Dallas, Texas, where she had lived for around 20 years, and it had been a year and a half since the Susie had seen her daughter in person.
I found that asking Susie about her daughter was all I needed to get her talking. Her pride was evident as she began talking about her daughter’s accomplishments. While Susie claimed her life was relatively uninteresting, she said her daughter “was always getting to do neat stuff.”
Almost immediately, she told me that her daughter had entered the Air Force after graduating from high school. I found the fact somewhat shocking, and asked Susie what that was like as her mother. In response to this question, Susie sighed, and I knew a story was coming.
“Life is such a journey,” said Susie. “You never know what you are going to meet in the road.”
After this, she launched into a story about a time she received a phone call, but it wasn’t just any phone call. Susie was at home alone. Her husband was at work and her daughter away at basic training. When she answered the phone, the person on the other end asked whether she knew where her daughter was.
“Yes, I know where she is,” answered Susie, purposely omitting her daughter’s location.
“Are you sure? Because I have her,” responded the voice on the other end of the line.
Naturally, Susie’s motherly instincts set in as her mind began racing, and she wondered whether her daughter could have been abducted. It was before the time of cell phones, so Susie waited for the return of her husband. When her husband arrived home, she recalls shaking him and exclaiming “Do you know what I’ve been through today?!” They called the police, and Susie called the base where her daughter was stationed. She explained the situation to those in charge at the base, and she remembers the conversation that ensued well.
“Ma’am, can I ask you a question?” said the man from the base.
“Yes, anything to get my daughter back,” said Susie.
“Do you have money?”
“What’s that?!” was her response.
Though I had only known this lady for a few brief minutes, I laughed because that sounded exactly like something she would say. She explained to me that she maybe had the money to go down to the store and purchase a hamburger, but she certainly didn’t have the money to pay a ransom.
The officials at the Air Force base set out in search of her daughter while the police tried to unearth who the caller was. Eventually, it was determined that Susie’s daughter was safe and sound at her base. The police deducted that the caller may have been someone recently fired from her husband’s department store seeking revenge. When Susie was finally able to speak with her daughter and tell her what had happened, her daughter just laughed saying she was worried they were trying to bust her for pot with all the dogs they brought.
During her time in the Air Force, her daughter also lived in Guam for 24 months, and at basic training in Texas is where she eventually met her first husband. While it is clear that the Air Force was a big part of her life, Susie had more to tell.
She began telling me about her daughter’s musical accomplishments. Throughout high school, her daughter played clarinet in the school band, and she was able to travel many places through her music. Susie remembered a time that her daughter and students from across the country were invited to play at Lincoln Center together.
“When they performed, it sounded like they had been playing together for years,” said Susie.
Her clarinet talent also took her on a trip to Europe touring 7 different countries. Today, she still plays the clarinet in her church’s band.
Though Susie only had one child, her daughter now has three sons. One just got married a few weeks ago, Susie tells me. Another is in his second year of college, and the youngest will be graduating high school this year.
After she divulged all of this to a virtual stranger, I had no doubts in my mind that Susie was full of love and respect for her daughter. However, once we had exhausted that subject, she began to tell me some about herself. I found her claims at being uninteresting to be false.
“I would’ve loved to have gone to college, to have all that knowledge in my head,” said Susie after asking me again where I went to school. “I don’t regret the way I grew up, though. We learned to live off the land.”
I couldn’t argue this point. While I may know how to explicate poetry and write ten page research papers, I’m betting I would fail at the simple task of starting a fire in any type of survivalist situation. I told Susie that I agreed. We have certainly become extremely reliant on our gadgets.
Then she switched the subject and lowered her voice as she did so.
“You know, I got a ‘big D’ before I left New York,” she whispered.
With one look at my confused face, she asked if I knew what that meant. I did not. At least, I didn’t think so. I was pretty sure Susie wasn’t using that phrase in the sense that my peers would.
“A divorce,” said Susie.
After asking her why it had happened, she said that they were just never able to get along, and she had remained single since.
“People told us we couldn’t get along because of our different cultures,” said Susie.
I asked her what she meant by that.
“Well, he was from the North, and I was from the South,” said Susie.
Each time I was taken aback by the quick and witty humor she kept up throughout the entire conversation, but at this point, I felt I had done enough reporting and put away my notebook.
Once again, time had been on my side, and I had gotten a much longer interview than expected. After the official interview ended, I continued to sit there with Susie while she waited for her daughter. Our conversation ranged from hair to weight loss to whether or not I had a boyfriend.
We caught a glimpse of her daughter at last, and I thanked Susie for her time. She told me how much she had enjoyed having someone to talk to while she waited. Before this point, it hadn’t occurred to me that people might just enjoy my company as much as I enjoyed theirs.
Susie jumped up to hug her daughter when she reached us. Over her shoulder, her daughter looked at me.
“This is the best mom in the world,” she said, and as an afterthought, “Except for your mom!”
Susie explained who I was asked her daughter if it would be alright if I took their picture. She agreed, and I snapped a quick photo, not wanting to take away from their time together.
I watched them walk to the baggage claim, clearly excited to be reunited. Thus far, I have been thouroughly impressed by the lives and personalities of each person I’ve approached. I can only hope the trend continues.