There was a story recently of a man traveling from LAX to Denver on Southwest Airlines. This man had arrived 2 hours before his flight, but due to lines at the check-in counter and security, he was running late for his flight. This part of the story is not unusual...there are millions of stories similar to this every day in every airport in America and, for that matter, the world. What made his flight unique was the reason why he was flying to the Mile High city. He was flying to say goodbye to someone.
This man was going to Denver to say goodbye to his grandson, who was being taken off life support after being beaten so badly by his mother's live-in boyfriend. In Los Angeles for a business trip, he and his wife were able to manage flight arrangements. But, even after arriving to the airport early, he was stuck in line. His wife called to explain what had happened, and let them know he was on his way... As a mother, I can not imagine how this would feel. I can't imagine the ache within their hearts for the pain their daughter is going through, the pain in their own hearts for the loss of a grandchild. We do not expect an event such as this to occur to our children. Our children are supposed to grow, learn, and become adults with a bright future.
The amazing part of this story is what happened...in that old Paul Harvey tag line - the rest of the story goes as follows below from the original posting, http://www.elliott.org/blog/southwest-airlines-pilot-holds-plane-for-murder-victims-family/:
"In LAX, the lines to both check a bag and get through security were exceptional. He got to the airport two hours early and was still late getting to his plane.
Every step of the way, he’s on the verge of tears and trying to get assistance from both TSA and Southwest employees to get to his plane on time.
According to him, everyone he talked to couldn’t have cared less. When he was done with security, he grabbed his computer bag, shoes and belt and ran to his terminal in his stocking feet.
When he got there, the pilot of his plane and the ticketing agent both said, “Are you Mark? We held the plane for you and we’re so sorry about the loss of your grandson.”
The pilot held the plane that was supposed to take off at 11:50 until 12:02 when my husband got there.
As my husband walked down the Jetway with the pilot, he said, “I can’t thank you enough for this.”
The pilot responded with, “They can’t go anywhere without me and I wasn’t going anywhere without you. Now relax. We’ll get you there. And again, I’m so sorry.”
I have not traveled as often as some, traveled more often than others...and most of my flights have gone off without a hitch. No real complaints in terms of when we took off, the flight itself, or the landing...just the normal every day flying experience. I was stuck on the runway at JFK in New York for a good 2+ hours a few months back, which meant I landed later than expected. But in the end, I arrived safely, so that was a successful trip. I was not flying under the tremendous strain this man was under.
In a world that is often on a time schedule, where we must all conform to the times regulated by our schedule, we often do not have even a second to spare. We are so consumed with getting somewhere on time we sometimes fail to take a look around, make sure we have everything we need. I am no exception to this rule. I hate being late, and am known for getting somewhere as early as I can. And sometimes we arrive early only to be held back, forced to go through lines like a mouse through a maze. This man must have been thinking and feeling this at that moment.
The man going through this ordeal will be forever grateful for the kindness presented to him through the pilot. If it were me I would have broken down into tears, hugged the man, and wept as a child. To this man, that pilot was like a savior (not THE savior, but none-the-less, a savior). He had the courage to wait, the courage to hold others back as he waited for one person to arrive.
In many ways, this must be similar to how our Heavenly Father feels once we learn about Him, and want to be closer to Him. Here we are, so small and insignificant within the grand scheme of this world. While we may be the world to others, the world does not function by our command, thankfully. Yet, we have someone who is waiting for us to recognize Him, and when we go to him says “They can’t go anywhere without me and I wasn’t going anywhere without you."
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