When Hailey Ann Sand learned that her beloved grandfather was close to death, she immediately booked a flight, hoping to get there in time to say goodbye.
The first leg of her trip was delayed. She had only 25 minutes to make her connection in Denver. Deplaning from row 31 near the back and making the 20+-minute walk to the connecting flight’s gate seemed impossible.
The flight attendants asked passengers to allow those with tight connections to pass first. But as often happens, the aisles filled quickly with bags and people distracted by their own lives.
Hailey was stuck.
The woman in the next seat saw Hailey start to panic. They hadn’t spoken the whole flight, but when the woman asked what was wrong, Hailey explained.
Without hesitation, in the middle of the chaotic deplaning process, the woman stepped out into the aisle and yelled loudly, asking people to please step aside and let Hailey get by so she had a chance to see her grandfather before he died.
Somehow, it worked. Hailey got off the plane and made her connection.
When she got to her grandfather, he said, “you made it!” She was beyond grateful to be with him and her family as he passed.
Soon after, Hailey posted a video on social media to track down the seatmate who “changed her life.” She wanted to let the woman know that she’d made it. Turns out the woman is a Hospice nurse. Who better to understand the importance of connecting with loved ones in their final hours?
Hailey’s message for the woman who helped her: “I got to be there… And I got to tell my grandfather how much I loved him and he got to tell me back and he understood what I was saying.”
All because a woman with compassion was willing to raise her voice to a plane full of strangers.
You never know what others are going through. Or how much your words or actions might help. Sometimes you’re just doing your job.
Nothing seemed out of the ordinary when twenty-five-year-old server Katie Miller waited on the couple at the restaurant where she works. It happened to be their 48th wedding anniversary.
Over the course of the meal, they briefly bonded over hair color and aging. Katie complimented the woman on her vibrant curly red hair – a beautiful color she noted others would pay good money for.
The woman admitted with a smile that she used the color to cover her gray. Katie replied that she just plucked out the few grays she’d already started noticing at her young age. They had a lighthearted laugh and that was it.
So Katie was floored when she read the note the husband left on the back of the receipt that showed the outsized impact she’d made:
“Thank you for your wonderful service. Our 27-year-old daughter passed away unexpectedly about 5 weeks ago and today is the first day I have been able to get my wife out to enjoy a real meal. Thank you for making her smile. You will never know what it means to us.”
Life moves fast. At times, it’s all you can do to get through the day, make your boss happy and keep your family fed.
Don’t beat yourself up if you don’t have a lot of extra time to volunteer or help others in a structured way. No one’s expecting you to solve all the world’s problems.
Just do what you do…in the best way you can. You never know who you might help.
