Home for the Holidays

Home For The Holidays Submitted by Dean Sidden from Winston Salem NC

I was at the airport with a friend, waiting to catch a flight from Charlotte NC to NYC a few Decembers ago.....just days before Christmas Eve. Our flight was overbooked.....and we were given the option to catch the next flight, as a reward...receiving vouchers for two free round trip airline tickets....to be used anywhere in the U.S. We gladly accepted.

As we waited at our gate, we noticed a lady with two young children. She looked very distressed....kept going back and forth to the ticket desk. I went to the ticket agent asking if everything was ok. She said " the lady booked a flight for her children to go to Arizona to be with their father for Christmas. She didn't realize there was a connecting flight. The children can only fly alone if it's a direct flight. The mother needs to fly the first leg of the flight, place the children on the connecting flight. She doesnt have the money for the extra ticket for herself and doesn't know what to do."

I sat back down...and looked at the two travel vouchers my buddy and I had, consulted with him.....then returned to the ticket agent, vouchers in hand. I asked the agent "could we donate our travel vouchers so the lady can get her children to their connecting flight? " the agent broke into tears...."you would do that for a total stranger?" Yes.

By that time my buddy was standing beside me as well....and the ticket agent called the mother over and said "these two kind gentlemen are giving you their free travel vouchers so u can catch the flight with your children." She was overcome with emotion. We all four stood there wiping back tears.

Later as my buddy and I were walking to our new gate, the two little boys came running up to us saying " mister,.....mister!". They handed each of us a Christmas drawing that said "thank you" and "merry Christmas".