My morning started at 4am. 

I got up this morning and made my way to the Indianapolis Airport to catch a 6:03 am flight to Punta Gorda, Florida. I’d then drive an hour south to finish my traveling for the day. I was greeted by my sweet grandparents, aunt & uncle, and cousins. For the next 3 days I will be soaking up needed time with my family as we celebrate Christmas early so I can make it back home to Indiana for Christmas with the other side of my family.

On the plane:

As excited as I am to be with my family, the point of this post is to tell you about my plane ride down. For those of you who have been following this blog for a while have probably caught on to the fact that I love traveling and I love people. My plane ride today let me enjoy both of those things. We all know the crippling fear that fills our body as we watch people walk down the aisle on a plane. Will they be sitting next to me? The question we ask ourselves thirty six times as people pass us by.

A large man (probably 6’4) approached the seat next to me. He plopped himself down and started complaining about the space available to him and his long legs. He shuffled his stuff around and proceeded to bury his head into his coat to get comfortable. “Yikes” I thought to myself…this guy really is who ended up sitting next to me.

“I’m sorry. I’ve had a terrible morning already. I’m not usually a grumpy guy.” He leaned over and said to me. We didn’t talk again for an hour. Halfway through our flight he asked me about school, my trip, my family, my passions and anything else he could to keep the conversation going. Then he brought up politics. (WHO DOES THIS IN SUCH A SMALL PUBLIC SPACE?!) But, we didn’t talk about the depths of politics. This 35(?) year old man brought up how politics are tearing our country apart. He mentioned that opinions are opinions but loving people is fact. He spoke highly about both parties and never identified with either side. He went back to the concept of just loving people and how that is fact. We spent the next 30 minutes talking about what loving people looks like in each of our lives. He said his favorite way of loving people is sending them puzzles from states he visits or post cards! He gave me solid life advice even as someone only 13 years older than me.

“What better way to say I love you than to send someone a gift while you’re away from them!” -man on the plane

We talked about his childhood, his early twenties and his baby that’s on the way! (YAY!!!) We talked so much in such a short amount of time. Turbulence would soon hit and the plane would return to the ground. Our seatbelt lights turned off and everyone was in a hurry to grab their bags and go. We sat just a little while longer to finish up our conversation. He grabbed his bag and exited the plane while I waited to grab mine. He was about two seats ahead of where we were sitting before he stopped to turn around and shake my hand and all he said was “Isn’t it crazy we just talked about all of those things and I didn’t get get your name?” He then smiled and walked away before a name exchange could even happen.

I didn’t even get his name. 

Dear man on flight 1801 in seat 24 E, you made my day today. You took your crappy day and set it aside to make small talk with the person sitting next to you. You could have kept your head buried and not said a word, but you didn’t. You said a lot of really good stuff. Stuff I didn’t know I needed to hear.

Congrats on your sweet baby boy who will be making his entrance into this world in just three weeks. Congrats on the five year anniversary with your wife. Congrats on the new job. Congrats on the new house and the dog you rescued last year! Thanks for making today feel a little less chaotic than it really was. 

Sincerely,

the woman sitting in seat 24 F.