Oct. 14th, 2016. It was the day my plane landed in NYC, the start of my next adventure! I had purchased the tickets about 6 months in advance, so there had been plenty of time for the excitement to build.. and it was finally happening!
Let me rewind to earlier that day.
My first flight took me from Tulsa, OK to Chicago, IL. I was boarding the plane, and mentally counted rows ahead, trying to determine my assigned seat location (mainly to make sure I wasn't sitting next to anyone.. you know.
Creepy) Anyways, I finally found row 21 and next to the window seat that I would be occupying, sat a man who looked to be in his 40's or 50's. He had shoulder-length curly grey-ish brown hair, and wore an 80's style sweater.
Oh well, I thought.
I guess it could be worse.
I took my seat and he greeted me with smile. We sat and listened to the flight crew give the safety instructions and then waited to take off.
"What takes you to Chicago?" I turned and explained to the man that it was my connecting destination to New York City. That immediately led him to explain that he had been to NY in the past, and he knew it would be a lot of fun for me. The conversation went on and the man began to tell me about his family, occupation, and life experiences (he was quite the adventurous sort!). He continued to bring up my trip to the "big apple", and mentioned an area of Manhattan, called "Little Italy". He told me that his family was from Italy. As we talked, he suggested eating on "Mulberry Street" in Little Italy. "You'll just love it there! Trust me, eat some real Italian food on Mulberry Street, and you won't regret it!"
We continued to talk and all of a sudden, the captain's voice came over the microphone announcing our arrival to Chicago. I was completely shocked! We had been talking for 2 hours!
As we deplaned and walked into the Chicago airport, he turned to me and said, "You know, one of my professors in college once said, Never let an opportunity to do a kindness pass you by."
I looked down and he was holding something out to me in his hand.
"Please take this, and enjoy yourself." He opened his hand to reveal a hundred dollar-bill. I was so surprised and stepped back, saying that I just couldn't take it, and all the while he was insisting. "Have a great time!"
I thanked him over and over for such a kindness, and looked down at the money.
As I looked up, the man was already rounding a corner and disappeared.
It was such a kind act. I just stood there, in the middle of the swarm of people, and smiled. It wasn't about receiving money.. but the kindness of this gentleman that left me almost in tears. All I could do was whisper,
Lord, bless that man.
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When I arrived in New York, my sweet friend Ruth was there to pick me up. We were both ecstatic.
The first evening we went to see the Broadway show, "Matilda". It was awesome! Afterwards, we stopped by Juniors for some of their famous cheesecake!
Times Square!
Day 2, soon to come!
