—by Erin Wood

Sitting here in the Kansas City airport, I am reminded of the last time I flew out of here a few months ago. I was flying from Kansas City to California to meet with the American Harp Society Executive Committee in preparation for the upcoming conference in Redlands, Calif.

It was an early departure, so I meticulously packed my suitcase and my backpack the night before and left them by my purse on the kitchen table. After getting our kids ready for school, my husband, Nathan, and I jumped in the car to make the 50-minute drive to the airport.

It was a cold January morning, and I took a picture of the beautiful sunrise on our way. Nathan dropped me off at the gates since I already had my boarding pass on my phone. After a quick hug goodbye, I walked into the terminal, and that is when I realized that I did not have my purse with me. I frantically called my husband and asked him if it was in the car, and he reported that it wasn’t. I knew there wasn’t enough time for him to drive all the way home and retrieve it before my flight, so I headed to ticket counter to ask a representative if they could possibly book me on a later flight since I did not have my ID with me. The representative suggested that I go to TSA and ask if they might be able to let me through with a more thorough screening.

I wasn’t very hopeful that this would work, but I went to security to ask. When I told them my predicament, they called another guard over. He asked me if I had any form of identification on me, or even something with my name on it, like a checkbook. Since I didn’t have my purse, I didn’t have any identification at all. I opened my backpack to see if I could find anything. I pulled out my reading material for the plane, an issue of Harp Column. My name and address were printed on the address label of the magazine! He said if I could find another item with my name printed on it, he could let me through. I called my husband who was at a nearby gas station filling up the car while I was sorting things out at the airport. He was able to find an insurance card in the glove box that had my name printed on it.  With both of these items, and an extremely thorough pat down, I was able to get to my gate in time to catch my flight. I have never been more grateful for my subscription to Harp Column.

For my flight today, I triple checked to be sure I had my ID, and I packed two issues of Harp Column in my backpack, just in case. •