At one point, as he had done on a previous visit to the Wilmington airport in 1956, Baba got up and went to the men's room marked COLORED MEN, meaning it was meant for "Negroes." He came out shortly afterwards and sat at a different spot, apart from the group.
Baba called PegAndy (as he referred to the Muirs), and they hurried over and knelt in front of him. Baba made his hands into fists and held his hands very close to their faces. His knuckles were white from the tightness of his fists.
Looking deeply into their eyes, he shook his fists in front of their faces and gestured with a severe expression, "Hold fast to my daaman with both hands. Tightly , hold on to my daaman with both hands." Baba put both fists in front of Andy's face and then in front of Peggy's, and then back again to Andy's, as if asking for emphasis: "Do you hear me? Are you listening? Am I getting through to you? Pay attention to what I am saying."
Then he gestured, "No matter what happens, hold fast to my daaman."
Both were then excused.
At 8:30 A.M., it was time to depart on National Flight 326. A wheelchair was brought, and the Divine Beloved sat in it as all crowded around him, reaching out to touch him once again. As he was wheeled out the door, the lovers' tears burst forth, and there was a loud cry of "Avatar Meher Baba ki jai!" The entire group followed slowly behind him and watched as Baba (wearing a pink jacket, white sadra and sandals) slowly ascended the stairs to the plane unaided, then turned and waved goodbye.
Andy Muir had positioned himself at the foot of the gangway. As Baba climbed up, Andy gently grasped the hem of Baba's sadra and held it for a few moments until he would have tugged had he held on any longer. With his right hand, Baba continued to wave from his window near the tail section until the plane taxied down the runway and took off, headed toward Washington, D.C.
Only Lud Dimpfl was allowed to accompany Baba, Eruch, Adi, Nariman and Don to California (on their way to Australia). The flight from Wilmington to Washington, D.C. was practically empty; only six or eight other passengers were on board. Baba sat on the left side in the next to last row. Lud sat beside him. During the two-and-a-half-hour flight to Washington, Baba chatted with Lud, asking continuously: where they would stop next (New Bern, North Carolina); what other stops would they make en route (Norfolk, Virginia); when they would arrive in Washington, D.C. (around 11:00); how long it would be before their flight left for California (two hours); and where they would have lunch.