For my thirtieth birthday, Willy gifted me with a trip to Italy. It was a completely unexpected and over the top gift, so I thanked him profusely and started booking! we had a fabulous time on our two week trip, where we spent a few days in each of Rome, Florence, and Venice. I knew before we left that I wanted to go back one day, and hope that we can get back there soon.

In all it’s awesomeness, the trip also gave me one of my favourite tales to tell. At the end of the trip Willy and I arrived at the airport, checked in and waited around for far too long. When we were finally ready to board, we walked to the gate and handed in our boarding cards. The gate agents noted that we were together, and this was causing some distress on their end. We tried not to get worried, and through a disjointed conversation that was part Italian, part English, and part who knows what, we were able to figure out what was going on. They had upgraded Willy. Only Willy.

I encouraged him to take the upgrade, even though it meant that he was going to be pampered in business class while I was still in cattle class. On my birthday trip.

The real reason I was so adamant that he take the seat was that he has a history of extreme sinus pain while flying, and I knew that the ability to stretch out and be comfortable would help immensely if he found himself in pain. What I didn’t know is that he would jump on that offer from me, and never look back. Not even to come and check on me. I also didn’t know that I would be stuck in the way back section of the plane, in the middle of a section of five seats. THIS part gave me a great story to tell about how he ditched me on my birthday trip.

I can no longer tell this story. I have a much better one to tell now, one where my husband is again upgraded on a flight that we are taking together, but this time he hands the boarding pass to me, despite the fact that we are embarking on a long journey to India, with our two year old and four year old in tow. I took that boarding pass, and barely looked back (although I did check on them several times).

Business class was very nice, especially the seats that recline fully to a bed. I loved that I was served my meal in courses, that the wines I was presented with were matched to my meal, and that I was made to feel special. I also loved the fact that I was alone, even though I did miss the lils and Willy. It gave me time to rest, to mentally prepare for the next leg of our journey, to feel a little guilty, but mostly to reflect on how awesome Willy is. Who does that? Volunteers to sit by themselves with the lils on a very long flight, deal with their craziness and never once complain? When I expressed my gratitude to him, Willy’s only response was “You do the time when I travel and earn the points, so you should share in the reward”. He’s pretty awesome, that husband of mine.