God does have a sense of humor; and we're the punchline

We were sizzling like bacon on a Sunday morning. 8:10 am and the van was packed, the flight confirmed, the kids ready. We check and double checked. We were on time (and in our house, that's saying something). If we were superstitious, we might have said "don't jinx it", but we're not and we didn't. Maybe we should have. We arrived at long term parking somewhere around 9:10 am, a good hour and 50 minutes before the flight. We found a spot right near the entrance. We gathered our bags, made sure we didn't leave anything behind. Then ... Sonya realized she had left her wallet, and more importantly her ID, 45 minutes away, in our kitchen. 9:15 am. There was no time for us to go back and get it and make the flight on time, and coupled with the new security measures as airports, there would (most likely) be no way for her to board the plane. But we rolled the dice and went to Delta check-in anyway. "No ID. No luck." We had less than hour till the flight was boarding. I checked us in; just to be safe. Abigail was near freak out zone (because we were on near freak out zone). Sonya called our neighbor and pleaded, begged, implored if she could get into our house, grab the wallet and drive it to the airport. No luck; her daughter was at home with strep throat. We called another neighbor; they had a doctor appointment - but she suggested that perhaps the airport would accept a fax. It was 9:42am. We asked (begged, pleaded, implored) Delta if it would be ok to use a fax. They talked amongst themselves. The first neighbor we asked called back and said she could get the and drive it to us. We said "awesome, thank you! please drive very fast". Delta came back to us and said that "yes" they would accept a fax. So now we had to decide -- risk not getting the wallet in time; but at least having the wallet (and ID), or risk that the fax wouldn't be acceptable (clear) enough. We called the 2nd neighbor back asking if she could get fax the license. No one answered. She then called the 1st neighbor to tell them to stop and leave the wallet so that the other neighbor could use it to fax to us. No one answered. So we waited. it was 10:05 am; our checked baggages had to be on the plane by 10:25 am. Finally Sonya's phone rang -- the neighbors had run into each other and figured it all out. Neighbor #2 was back at her house faxing the license, except one thing; her fax machine wasn't working. It was 10:10 am and I put the luggage on the conveyor, in an act of pure optimism. Neighbor #2 called back, saying her fax was working, but the number we had given her (to fax to) wasn't. Delta gave us another number to try. No dice. Then another. It was 10:22 am. Neighbor #2 said the fax went through. Delta said they hadn't gotten anything. The luggage was on its way to Orlando, even if we were not. The kids were calm, yet unsettled a bit; in spite of all that was happening, I'd say they were saints. Finally, 10:26 am Delta confirmed the fax, verified Sonya's ID and we were ushered through the security checks and into the terminal. In one piece. With our luggage. And the plane didn't even crash. Sometimes even the worst of situations can teach you the simplest things, a good neighbor (or 2) is invaluable and precious. Thank you neighbors! We love you all, and hope your Christmas is filled with a lot less stress than ours started off with!