Angels in My Flights (Part 1)

As most of you know, I left for a two-month vacation with my little son on Wednesday last week. It was my first time to travel alone with my son, and I was not quite sure what to expect. He is a very active and energetic little boy, and can’t be restrained in one place for a very long time. Which three-year old could be anyway? So just figure how he could manage the 26-hour plane trip across the Pacific (19 hours on plane, 7 hours layover). Though I came prepared with a monkey-leash to keep him closer to me when walking and a stroller to sit him comfortably when napping; there’s no guarantee however that he will agree to be strapped to any of them. Needless to say, these gadgets didn’t help much. My son would rather walk (aimlessly) in a crowded airport and roll his own carry-on. At age 3, he kept insisting he’s a big-boy and wanted to do everything on his own. So you can just imagine how stressful it was to run after him or hold his hand without a fight.

When I checked in our stroller at the gate in Boston, I specifically told the crew that we still have two connecting flights so I would of course need the stroller. Few minutes before reaching our first destination, my son fell asleep. I opted to vacate the plane last so I could lay my son on the seat and run for the stroller at the end of the jet quickly. But the good ol stroller was nowhere to be found. Meanwhile, all the crews of the plane who were so ready to leave themselves too got stuck with me while I waited for the stroller. Then they said that it probably got sent to our final destination. Are you kidding me? Have I just carried a stroller and not even serve its purpose? I showed them my receipt and it says it should be at each connecting flights. They apologized for what happened and told me that it was just the first that this occurred. Yeah and of all the other times it could happen, it should be now. But I was still furious. Good thing they helped me out and carried some of my carry-on bags.

My son woke up cranky and restless in my arms. I tried to put him on the floor for a while so I could check on the monitor the gate for the second leg of our trip. But he didn’t like it so he screamed, cried and begged me to pick him up. With two carry-on bags; a purse and a screaming tot hanging on my body and not sure how far the next gate would be, at this point I was also breaking into tears. Then an old lady by the name of Donna Pierson noticed me. She had a cartful of boxes with fliers; her blue shirt had an MSP logo printed on it. She asked me where I was headed to and I said I was still trying to squeeze myself at the monitor to look for our gate. She was so kind and volunteered to do it for me. When she found out the gate, I was hoping she could give direction too, but I got an even better deal because she volunteered to take us there! Wow, she was really nice, so my tears rolled down my cheeks now out of happiness that somebody is willing to help me with my stuffs.

I carried my son up to some point and at other points he agreed to walk on the travelator so there was not much strain on my arms and back. I told Donna to just take us to the gate and I’ll just figure where to get lunch there. She said she could take us to McDonald's if I wanted to and volunteered to watch my son while I order the food. With a little bit of hesitation and a grumbling stomach and light-headedness, I accepted the offer. I ordered food-to-go quickly and then we headed finally to our gate.

Donna was such an enormous help, an angel sent from heaven. She must be in her late 70's. My son even called her grandma. I gave her a big hug to thank her for her wonderful gesture.