Today this photo popped up on my memories and I recalled writing the story about the boy with autism on the plane. His father had sent him from Houston through New York to Vegas where his mother would pick him up. However, the Houston flight crew said he was too disruptive to continue on and requested that he not go with us on the second leg. I was new and didn’t know what they’d do with the boy – hoping a case worker or some special person in a red coat would show up and announce they would chaperone him home. But when that didn’t happen I stood up in opposition to the notion that an 8 year-old should stay overnight in New York with no plan to get to his mother safely.
The crew said if I wanted to take him, his actions were all on me. In other words, “if anything goes wrong you’re the one taking the fall for this.” I agreed. My motherly instinct was far more powerful than a threat to potentially lose my job from the mouths of a 20-something year-old who didn’t know the first thing about sacrificing something for the safety and well being of a little one.
Once in air, I knew I’d bitten off more than I could chew when the boy came in the back galley looking for me – the began running up and down the isle. A man with his own children and wife were seated a few rows in front of the child. I asked him to keep an eye on him while we did service and to ring the call light if he got up again. I never heard the call light and assumed all was well. Then hours later when I came back to check on the boy, I saw the most beautiful sight.
The man had left his own children and family to sit with the boy. They watched cartoons together, drew pictures and even took photos of the clouds and the sunset. To be a father to someone else’s child, even if its for a few hours reveals a type of love that is rare and more beautiful than I can even speak to. I guess I say this because I’ve had this blessing in moments of my own life and I know how monumental this can be for that child.
This is a beautiful memory and a reminder that I needed today showing that there is still light out there in this world. There’s love and there’s hope and there are still saints willing to stand in the gap for the little ones – those who can’t speak for themselves but all deserve the love and support by others to make it home safely. This man was a Saint in the Sky that day. And I believe many others are out there willing to lend a hand and a heart to save the silent ones; the animals and angels with broken wings.
