When Thanksgiving prep is too much and the holiday season weighs you down, you should think about the Arrivals area at the bottom of the long escalator in Terminal C at John Wayne Airport.
Nowhere in Orange County is there more holiday magic.
At the bottom of that escalator, just before passengers reach baggage claim, the days before Thanksgiving are filled with yelps of delight and tears of happiness. There are handmade “Welcome home” signs and bouquets of roses. And the hugs and kisses can be acrobatic.
We hear all the time about the horrors of holiday travel. This is a story about the joys.
Tuesday morning, Carter and Braden Knipp woke up in Kansas City, Mo., where their mom, Jennifer, informed them they would be flying to Orange County for Thanksgiving. The boys leaped off the Terminal C escalator into the arms of Jennifer’s longtime friend, Tristen Winston of Aliso Viejo.
“We’re skipping school,” Carter said emphatically.
“Look how big you are,” Winston said through her tears.
That scene played out over and over again on Tuesday. Babies who had never met their extended family arrived in Orange County. Students coming home for a holiday break arrived. A big contingent of Kansas City Royals fans arrived so they could spend Thanksgiving in Trabuco Canyon.
Culinary student Deanna Fontaine flew in from Denver with no idea what to add to her mother Donna’s Thanksgiving menu in Corona. But she’s going to make something.
“I’ll wing it,” Fontaine said. “And it’s going to be good.”
Fontaine got a huge hug from her niece Bella, a 5-year-old who was carrying a sign reading, “Welcome Home Aunt Ana and Uncle Mean.” He’s not really mean, Bella said.
Brian Keen of Temecula hugged his daughter Grace Corriveau and granddaughter Aubree, who is 2. They had flown in from Seattle.
“It will be Aubree’s first extended family Thanksgiving,” Keen said.
Gillian Shaw of Newport Beach rushed the staircase when she saw her son, Trevor, a University of Chicago freshman. He’s on the football team and studying business.
“Here he comes,” she said, throwing her hands into the air.
“It’s been tough being away from my parents,” Trevor said, his arm wrapped around his mother’s neck. “It’s good to be home to see my mom.”
Howard Galperson of Laguna Niguel held a bouquet of roses waiting for his daughter, Hallie. She’s a psychology student at Pima Community College in Tucson.
How are they going to spend the week?
“We’ll do anything she wants,” Galperson said. What he didn’t tell her in the airport is that he had a stuffed teddy bear waiting for her in the car, so she could have two surprises.
Hallie jumped into her father’s arms, squishing the roses against his chest.
“They smell so good,” she said. “It’s good to be home.”
Contact the writer: ksharon@ocregister.com