Taking mom to the airport

Mom flew back home today - her flight was at 18:00,  I picked her up 4.5 hours ahead of schedule.  We tried to do a few last minute things:

Mom wanted to say goodbye to Ewa, and Ewa also called my cell to see if mom was with me, but unfortunately the timing didn't coincide, despite the fact that mom was being picked up on 60th St. and 11th Ave, and Ewa was doing her training on 54th St. and 11th Ave - so we were practically next to each other.  Fortunately there are cell phones and Ewa and mom were able to exchange some "see you next time" wishes.

Mom also wanted to visit her parents, so we went to Kew Gardens, where we spent 30 minutes, but though it was sunny, it was cold too, and neither one of us were wearing our coats, so we went back to the car and continued towards the airport.

The flight was a co-joined flight between Iberia and American Airlines, so neither mom, nor me, could determine which terminal we needed to head to: either terminal 7 (Iberia) or terminal 8 (American)... After doing to round drives on terminal 7, I decided to head for terminal 8, after all, this is the US, so I thought that American Airlines had the highest chance to be running the show... I was wrong... we parked the car in terminal 8, but we ended up taking the air bus to terminal 7

Mom was concerned that she had two pieces of luggage and that there were too heavy.  She said that American Airlines only permitted passengers to check one back, and only up to certain weight... but the gentleman that helped us check the bags did not mention anything, and, in fact, he was very pleasant to deal with... this is the first time, that I can recall, that mom and I have not gone through an ordeal when dealing with getting to the check in counter (previous years, I was always asked to step aside, because only the passenger was allowed on the check-in line...not this time...and I am glad, I always think mom does not have enough strength to carry her luggage...she is rather petite)

After checking the bags in, we purchased two cups of decaffeinated coffee, and we sat for 1 hour, before she started heading towards the security gate (only passenger are allowed after that point) - she passed with flying colors, and there were no lines, and no mess...perhaps is better to fly with Iberia every time - no mess no fuss. 

the queues to get through security were very light and dynamically fast - a surprise, but a very pleasant and welcome one.

The TSA agent checking mom's passport - he was actually very thorough, and was taking his time with each passenger - he had a blue ultraviolet lamp...

   Mom made it without any issues - on the way back to the car I took a few pictures of the sunset.