She pushes a stroller through the arrivals area of Atlanta's Domestic Terminal and carries her daughter, Ruby, in a BabyBjorn. for her early morning flight from Denver. Sheila smiles knowingly, hands Philip the car keys and gets into the back seat.Ĭheri Anne Hummel's cheeks are rosy and her eyes are red. She tells her mom she's starving, and that she wants to get Italian food. "Hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii! Look at my babies!" she says, shouting so loudly about the wedding that strangers waiting nearby congratulate them.īritney quickly tosses her luggage in the trunk and says she's ready to go. How she joined the military to pay for medical school so her family wouldn't have to.Īt the curb near baggage claim, Sheila squeals when she sees Britney and Philip coming. How her straight A's got her a full ride from Spelman College. How she's been fearless and loved traveling ever since. How, at age 2, she toted a mini-suitcase and took her first flight alone to visit an aunt in Arizona. "This is her life, a new chapter."Īs Sheila waits for Britney and Philip to pick up their luggage, she prepares herself for the first thing she knows Britney will say ("I'm hungry") and the food she'll want to go out to eat (Italian).Ĭircling the airport, she thinks about how amazing her only daughter is. "One thing I know that he would want her to do is live," she says. Knowing her daughter is doing what Wendell wanted helps Sheila keep going. This bittersweet blend of joy and heartache is all too common at the world's busiest airport, where moments of love and loss are carried like precious cargo and unwieldy baggage. He won't see Britney wear the wedding dress she picked out after shopping at stores in three states. He won't dance with her at the reception. She knows Wendell won't walk their daughter down the aisle. Sheila's trying to hold it together, but she's been tearing up all week. Wendell, her husband of 27 years, died of a heart attack in March. More than 200 people are coming to the wedding, but Sheila can't stop thinking about the one person who won't be there. And their flight from Columbus, Ohio, just arrived. This weekend, Britney is marrying her fiancé, Philip. Her cell phone is chirping with calls and texts. Today, Sheila's home is full of invitations, goody bags and gifts. … And I remember as she started to grow and started to date and everything, I just kept praying." "When the doctor said it was a girl," she says, "I immediately started praying for her mate. Sheila is only days away from a moment she's dreamed of for decades. Her daughter Britney just texted four words that sent her scrambling: "On the Plane Train." Sheila Payton barrels down I-85 in her silver Chevrolet Sonic.
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