Open Letter to the Fellow Passenger Who Chose Kindness

By Layah

I'm not sure if you remember me, but I was the panicked, teary-faced, distraught mother of three on your flight to Florida on March 18, 2015. I wish I knew your last name, so I could search for you, but I just know you as Jessica from Air Wisconsin (I think). I'm sorry. I desperately want to thank you for your kindness, personally, with some sort of gift, but for now this open letter will have to do.

I'm not sure what compelled you to help me. Maybe it the argument you heard me having with the awful, cold-hearted manager of Allegiant Air – the one who refused to let my husband help me to the plane, even though TSA allows guest passes. The one who, despite my tears and pleading, sent me on my way by myself when I had three children aged three and under, a double stroller, a large cooler with their food and bottles for the three-hour flight, my purse/diaper bag, my daughter's princess suitcase, and a car seat. Who said I was on my own because I was not "handicapped." You may have heard me scold the ticket counter worker and that manager, saying, "You should be ashamed of yourselves to do this to a mother of three young babies when we are not asking you to break any rules." You may have seen my husband keeping his cool, trying to reassure me that I could do it.

I don't know what inspired you to help me, but you did. You carried my bags, put them through the security machine. You waited for me to collect my children (who were running around as kids do) and put on my shoes, and you refused to let me carry the car seat. You even asked if I needed to use the bathroom. You walked my three kids and me to the plane, and you waited right next to me until we boarded.

Your gesture may not have seemed like a big deal to you, but this kindness kept me sane when I was completely losing it on the inside...OK, maybe on the outside, too.

Then, at the end of our flight when everyone was debarking, you stopped in the row in front of mine and waited with me again. You said, "I'll help you off the plane." I’m sure you were in a rush to get off, too, but you just smiled and insisted.

Thank you.

Because, shit, I needed the help.

Honestly, I could not have managed without you. As cheesy as it may sound, you were my flight angel. I’m filled with gratitude for you, that you chose to show a mother compassion in her time to desperation when she realized, too late, that she had bit off more than she could chew. I made it through my first flight with three toddlers by myself because of you.

I know I can never fully repay you for your kindness, but if you happen to come across this letter, please message us, so I can at least try.

Best & thank you again,
Layah