Our flight to Japan was the usual long international flight with movies, airline food and people packed in like sardines—in other words, an experience to be slept through—except for the wonderful surprise Northwest Airlines gave us when we crossed the International Dateline, far out across the Pacific Ocean.

We left Hawaii on October 31, and hours later we crossed the magical line that instantly evolved into the next day, which happened to be Cassidy's 8th birthday. In an instant she grew older 35,000 feet above the Pacific, as Halloween became November 1 in the middle of the day. Cassidy's birthday having been noted on the manifest along with the request for a kid's meal and seating in the long-leg section resulted in the girls being whisked off for a complete tour of the 747's upstairs first class and the cockpit as soon as we boarded. The crew all sang happy birthday to her as she toured, and we figured that was that.

Cassidy crossing the International Dateline becomes 8 years old.
Northwest Airline flight crew bring her treats and sing Happy Birthday.

Cassidy regaled these extra attentive folks with tales of Alaska, all that had happen so far on her trip, and all that we looked forward to in the year ahead. As her stories spread, most of the crew came by to share stories and offer their encouragement for our journey.

As soon as we'd passed the International Dateline the pilot announced our crossing and told all the passengers that it was also a special occasion because it was now Cassidy's birthday. Although most of the passengers were either asleep or mystified (most of them didn't speak English), the flight crew was excited, and they suddenly showed up with baskets of candy and favors singing another round of "Happy Birthday." Cassidy was indeed surprised, slightly embarrassed, and she marked the occasion of her birthday by sharing all her treats with everyone who was awake on board.

We had snuck a cake on with us (the stewardesses told us later that Northwest had tried to get a cake on board too, but it missed the flight). Although is was slightly smashed, we cut it into thin wedges to share with the flight crew. Then we dug out our bag of small trinkets and books carefully wrapped for the occasion, and had a party!

Cassidy says "This was the best birthday that I ever had. But when I went to go see the pilots, they said they were going to tell everybody that it was my birthday and my face turned bright red." Her favorite parts were when one of the flight attendants came by giggling that the galley was silly with the crew fighting over the cake, and when she got to help the flight attendants pass out the Duty Free order forms.

When we landed each of the crew, including the Captain, personally greeted Cassidy and wished her well. Hats off to Northwest Airlines for a jolly good show!