Special assistance
I saw an old lady, sitting alone in a wheelchair near Gate 22. She seemed to be looking around for someone.
“Hello”, I said.
“Hello”, she replied.
“Can I help you with anything? Are you with someone?” I asked.
She told me she had just arrived in on a flight and was supposed to meet her daughter, and that she needed to get to the baggage area.
The gate area was deserted. There was not an agent in sight.
“I’ll take you”, I said. “My name is Keith. What’s your name?”
“Elizabeth”, she replied.
Family business
With that, I grabbed hold of the wheelchair handles and started pushing her through the halls of Terminal 2. We chatted along the way. She told me her daughter and granddaughter both worked for the airline. I told her my mom worked for the airline too. We bumped into my friend Mark. He and I were going to go for a coffee afterward. I remember that the old lady made a joke — something about coming with us for the coffee — and that we all laughed.
“What’s your daughter’s name?” I asked as we descended the elevator to the baggage hall.
“It’s Charlotte”, she said, as the elevator doors opened.
“I know Charlotte!”, I exclaimed.
Charlotte was standing there at the baggage carousel waiting for her. Her eyes lit up when she caught a glimpse of her mother, and a big bright smile came across her face.
“Ohhhhh thank you, Keith! Hi Mom”, she said.
“Hi, Charlotte. I was walking by the gate when I saw her sitting there. I didn’t even know this was your Mom! It was a pleasure to meet you Elizabeth”
“Thank you so much!”, Elizabeth said.
How I met your mother’s mother
That was 2003. Elizabeth passed away in 2004, from cancer. That was my one and only meeting with my future Grandmother In Law. It was a complete stroke of luck that I was able to meet her.
Karen, my wife, would later tell me that Elizabeth talked about me that night, after meeting me at the airport.
“I met a nice boy named Keith at the airport. You should go out with him”.
—
This post was previously published on Medium.com.
***
If you believe in the work we are doing here at The Good Men Project and want a deeper connection with our community, please join us as a Premium Member, today.
All Premium Members get to view The Good Men Project with NO ADS. Need more info? A complete list of benefits is here.
—
Photo credit: Luci Gutierrez