Holiday Cheer: How Strangers Made Travel Easier for Two Moms
'Tis the season, not just to jostle for a boarding position, but to be jolly -- and also to be kind to one's fellow traveler. Two separate mothers took to Facebook this week to celebrate strangers who made traveling with small children just a little bit easier.
Surprise Upgrade for Family Traveling to the Hospital
Kelsey Zwick posted a public Facebook note thanking the kind stranger on American Airlines Flight 588 from Orlando to Philadelphia who gave up his first-class seat for her and one of her 11-month-old twin daughters, Lucy, to travel in a little more comfort.
"I was pushing a stroller, had a diaper bag on my arm and also lugging an oxygen machine for my daughter," Zwick said in her viral post, explaining that she and Lucy, who suffers from chronic lung disease and relies on an oxygen tank while traveling, were en route to Children's Hospital of Philadelphia for a follow-up appointment. "I cried my way up the aisle [on my way to our first-class seat] while my daughter Lucy laughed! She felt it in her bones too... real, pure, goodness. I smiled and thanked you as we switched but didn’t get to thank you properly."
Zwick took to Facebook to continue sharing her gratitude, saying, "Thank you. Not just for the seat itself but for noticing. For seeing us and realizing that maybe things are not always easy. For deciding you wanted to show a random act of kindness to us. It reminded me how much good there is in this world. I can’t wait to tell Lucy someday. In the meantime... we will pay it forward. AA 588 passenger in seat 2D, we truly feel inspired by your generosity."
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Dallas mom, Becca Kinsey, similarly encountered nothing but warm-heartedness from her fellow travelers on a recent flight home with her two sons, ages 5 and 2 years old.
"So I thought it was a good idea to fly by myself with a two-year-old and a five-year-old," Kinsey wryly began in her December 7 viral Facebook post, continuing on to describe every traveling parent's worst nightmare. "We were standing in line in security, on the verge of tears because Wyatt was screaming and James was exhausted." But from there, Kinsey's day got better. A fellow mother jumped out of line in security, urging her to cut ahead to get through screening more quickly because "I know how it is," Kinsey said. Another woman also helped with the family's things and even got aided the family all the way to their gate.
Once onboard, a woman cuddled Kinsey's toddler to sleep on the plane, holding him from about 45 minutes into the flight until they landed and she was able to put the child into his father's arms at the destination airport.
Like Zwick, Kinsey also felt inspired by the strangers' kindness to pay it forward. Her Facebook post now includes a donation link to Kidd's Kids, an organization that helps children with life-threatening and life-altering conditions take a trip to Disney World.
If these acts inspire a little holiday generosity in your heart, take a look inside Give Kids the World Village that houses critically ill "wish" children who take a once-in-a-lifetime trip to Orlando. We are just $300 from our goal of sending a third wish family to Florida.
