A Child's Perspective of Travel -- December 2009

My seven year-old grandaughter, Talia, jumped and screamed with joy when she opened one of her favorite Christmas gifts, a set of pink polka dot luggage with matching luggage tags. Anticipating the annual trip to Palm Springs with her mom, two year-old brother Jakie and Grandpa Bruce, she spoke excitedly about the five hour flight from Atlanta to California. Abruptly, her mood changed. She addressed Papa Larry, "If the plane crashes into water, I have to save Jakie because he can't swim." Papa assured her that she would not be flying over an ocean on this cross-country trip. Later, as we two grandparents discussed her concern, I thought, "Had media coverage of the airplane landing in Hudson Bay so innundated the airways that she internalized those frightening television images? Had we spoken in her presence about the incident?" She is so innocent. Her conversations about Santa Claus,Elf on the Shelf, and family holiday traditions such as Hanukkah and Christmas entertained all of us. The reality of life seen through the eyes of a child . . . .