“It was just another flight plan headed to Chicago, where my parents reside. I’d been anxiously awaiting to pick up my husband from this flight. We had finally set aside a weekend kid-free. Our hotel was booked, and it was just US! I parked in the cell phone lot at the airport awaiting his text to ‘pull around’ while the kiddos sat in the backseat. I received a call, but I didn’t answer. As soon as it went to voicemail, I got a text. ‘Andrew isn’t answering his phone.’”
‘I heard there was a plane crash. Is he OK?’ I was in a cell phone lot with my children, absolutely frozen.’: Woman tragically loses pilot husband in Indiana plane crash, ‘I am honored to be the wife he chose’
‘Lucky you,’ she replied with an eye roll. Yes, lucky me. My children have autism.’: Mom explains the ‘one time’ she’s envied is ‘when we get to enter an airplane first’
“I was waiting to pre-board a plane with my two young children when another passenger grabbed my shoulder. She told me I needed to wait for family boarding. I responded it was indeed our turn to go. ‘How’d you manage that?’ she asked. ‘We have different circumstances,’ I replied.”
‘Wow, super Dad. Dad of the year!’ And what did people say to me? Nothing.’ Mom’s candid reflection on husband being praised for simply ‘PARENTING, not babysitting’
“While we were walking through the airport with my husband loaded down with the ‘Littles’ and I cared for the ‘Bigs’ and the bags, he was lauded with praise. People watched him with admiration. ‘You’re doing such a great job,’ they told him. Apparently, I looked like I needed to take on more.”
‘This soldier, who died in Afghanistan, was being flown home on our flight. I have never cried so much for someone I didn’t know.’ Man recalls ’emotional’ flight, airline captain’s act of kindness
“I sat down in my seat, and 2 minutes later, boarding was ceased by the captain to observe a moment of silence. I thought, ‘Now what?'”
‘Passenger 2C stomped onto the plane. He should have worn a sign that read, ‘Do you know who I am?’ Did you really have to throw your foot on the armchair? Darn. So sorry.’: Wife later realizes she was so angry with man on plane because of dying husband
“I have finally figured out why I was so mad at him, and why my heart was so full of hate. Passenger 2C, I’m sorry I said mean things. If I hadn’t been making fun of you, I would have doubled over in my seat sobbing.”
‘HE’S FINALLY ON THE PLANE! In desperation, we went to another airline desk to beg for help. She even sat on the floor with him. He was so frightened. He was in a wheelchair due to them medicating him.’
“This is my son, Leo. He has severe autism and the mental capacity of a 3-year-old. This airline refused to let him fly home because he was distressed when they wouldn’t let him have his doll. Police were called, which caused his meltdown.”
‘Hours shy of our wedding, at 5 months pregnant, I was assaulted. ‘I don’t know what is wrong with me,’ my fiancé said, begging me to forgive him.’: Woman files for divorce with 3 children, now living their ‘best life’ after bonding together through trauma
“My fiancé sat in the fetal position, berating himself. With 3 children, I filed for divorce. It meant food stamps. We all shared the same bed. I decided to do the craziest thing – leave a stable job to fly for the airlines. Single moms don’t do that, right? As I shut down the engine, I could hear my kids yelling, ‘Mommy!’ I was NOT broken.”
‘This mother was panicking. Her infant started wailing, disturbing sleeping passengers. You could see panic written all over her face. A lady even stood up to give her tips.’
“Then, the best thing happened. One of the crew members was an expert father. Within minutes in his arms, the baby was sleeping soundly. Ladies, a good husband is a good father. I had never seen anything more beautiful than this.”
‘It’s going to be okay. I’m here,’ she said into my hair, holding me tight. A perfect stranger was rocking me like a child in the airport.’: Woman recalls stranger’s act of kindness after brother dies in tragic accident
“‘Your brother was kite-surfing. They don’t know what happened.’ I fell utterly to pieces. I found a quiet gate down the concourse and slumped down with my suitcase and a massive jumble of airport toilet paper. Opening my eyes, I saw a beautiful woman. She simply opened her arms.”
‘I don’t know her name, but she was our hero on our flight home. Everyone on the plane was looking at us, annoyed by my son’s outburst.’
“He had a sudden meltdown and we couldn’t keep him calm no matter what we tried. This flight attendant asked if she could hold him. I warned her he might get aggressive and try to gouge her eyes.”
