Flight of Kindness

Daily writing prompt

What’s something most people don’t understand?

View all responses

About ten years ago, I was flying down to Florida to see my dad. He was in the hospital, and my brother had called to say he wasn’t doing well. His voice had an ominous tone; my dad was in his late eighties and had been going downhill for several months.

As we flew, I gazed out the window and reflected on all the things we had done as a family. My mom had died three years earlier and it seemed everything was just going way too fast. All our trips, vacations, dinner conversations…funny things, poignant things, Christmases and birthdays…all behind us now. I thought about my dad and how much he loved aviation. I had a idea.

I deliberately dawdled in getting my stuff from the overhead bin. I was the last one out, and the Captain was standing by the cockpit door with a smile. I asked him if I could snap a quick picture of the cockpit, even though I figured it would not be allowed.

He looked at me a little funny and I explained that my dad was in the hospital, he was a B-29 pilot and tomorrow was his birthday. His expression changed and not only did he let me take a picture, he insisted that I sit in his seat, positioned me just so and took several pix.

I stopped at CVS on my way to the hospital and printed the picture. I bought a little frame and gave it to him. He must have examined it for ten minutes, lost in time.

Don’t know who that kind pilot was, but he sure put a smile on my dad’s face. The picture is now next to my workbench. I look at it frequently and remember Pop’s reaction.

Little acts of kindness make such a difference; and the ripple effects–like rings on a pond–continue on long after.

I wish more people understood.