2010 Loumeau Family Christmas Letter

Dear Family and Friends,

2010 has been another year of change for our family. We strive to move forward and learn the things we need to learn so that we can become the people God wants us to be.

We’ll start with the most important member of our family, Amora. She just had her second birthday and continues to be a joy in our life. It’s incredible at how much she has developed linguistically in the past year. She can now form complex sentences and loves to sing (and sings most of the actual lyrics to songs). Her favorite songs include The Itsy Bitsy Spider and Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. She’s quite a picky eater, so one of the biggest compliments I can get is “It’s nummy, Mommy.” My heart melts when she says three special words to Adam or me, “I love you.” She loves to wrestle with her daddy and read stories with her mommy. We have a special little girl and are so grateful for her.

I am embracing my task as being a full-time mom and wife. In addition, I have the opportunity to watch a 3 year old boy a few days a week. It’s great for Amora because she has someone to play with, and it gives me an idea of how life will be with more than one child (no, we are not announcing anything). I love to plan activities for Amora, have girl’s nights with the ladies, and go on a few dates with the hubby. We had a new addition to our family this year, Lucy, a sweet little Dachshund dog, who helps keep me busy. I have also had the opportunity to travel multiple times this year to visit family. Recently, we had three weddings in our families that I was able to attend. But all that traveling sure does have me hoping for a more quiet 2011. Maybe I will have time to pick up a new hobby.

Adam has also had quite a year. He started off working for US Bank in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. After a lot of thought and prayer, he realized that he has an interest for and talent in statistics. So in May, we packed up and moved to Boise, Idaho so Adam could attend school at Boise State University. He acquired a job as a psychosocial rehabilitation specialist (he helps people with mental illnesses maintain as much independence as possible) and went to school part time. He will be attending school full-time starting in January to complete the required prerequisites for a master’s degree in statistics. Adam loves to spend time with his family and participate in an email discussion group that allows him to share his brilliant perspective on many issues. He also enjoys watching football and basketball and is quite happy when the bowl season spreads its Christmas cheer every December.

Thanks to all of our family and friends for your support and prayers. We wish you all a Merry Christmas!

God bless,
Adam, Wendy, and Amora Loumeau

My TSA Story

I was traveling from Houston (IAH) on Sunday, December 19, 2010 with my husband and 2 year old daughter. We prepared for screening as normal, emptying our liquids and dividing the small liquids in Ziploc bags. I enter the metal detector and am not cleared because of the excessive number of hair pins I left in my hair from a wedding the night before. I am told to hand my child to my husband so I can get pat down. Fine, I get it.

As I am waiting, a TSA agent tells me (not my husband), that our stroller will be coming out of a different scanner. I am then informed that I cannot touch anything, not even my daughter until I am cleared from the pat down. I then wait a few minutes (not seconds) for a TSA agent (while my husband is left on his own to care for a 2 year old and gather all of our belongings).

The TSA agent (Agent A) then begins her speech of what she is going to do. I interrupt her to ask for clarification on what the exact policy is for the pat down, where she begins to get irritated with me and continues on her prepared speech without answering my question. During this speech, I’m watching my husband and daughter to make sure everything is going okay. I then see the stroller going out of the other scanner and call to my husband so he can get it. TSA Agent A then yells at me and runs to grab someone else’s belongings. As I’m trying to explain to her that those are not my belongings and I was just pointing the stroller out to my husband, another agent (Agent B, LT50 Demeke) comes up to yell at me as well. Agent B, LT50 Demeke, informs me that I was being incredibly disrespectful and called it upon herself to oversee and verbally abuse me throughout the duration of the pat down. She also walks over to my husband to lecture him on how his wife needs to learn respect for the sake of our daughter.

I am then cleared and ask for Agent B’s name and ID badge number. Agent B, LT50 Demeke, then scatters my boarding documents over a table, grabs my driver’s license and boarding document, and takes it to her post to write down my information. When I tell her she has no right to take my things like that (remember she was not the individual who was assigned to perform my pat down), she told me that she did indeed have that right and also had the right to have me arrested if she wanted. She kindly gives me back my documents along with her name and wishes me a Merry Christmas.

I arrive at my destination and find that the bag that I checked did not leave the Houston airport. After speaking with a retired airport employee, I am quite certain that Agent B, LT 50 Demeke, used my identification and boarding documents to pull my suitcase off my flight for further inspection (of course with no intent other than pure malice).

This incident makes me sick. As an American citizen, I should have the right to not be harassed like this. TSA needs to have checks and balances. They should not be the god of the airport where they can do whatever they want to passengers. Agent B, LT50 Demeke, should be put on probation at the very least for this malicious and abusive behavior, if not fired. We deserve a right to speak up and create real change.

Another concern I have is this: what if my husband wasn’t there? Who would have looked after my daughter and belongings if I couldn’t touch them? I am scared to find out. So scared that I honestly feel sick thinking of flying again.

Please send this to anyone who will listen. Something needs to change. Mothers and families should not be targeted by TSA like this. Terrorists should be targeted. This is malicious, destructive behavior that needs to stop. If we don’t do something now, how far will we let it go? How many more basic rights will be taken away in the name of safety?