A Gift of Hope from an Airline Passenger

An airline passenger who brought me hope……

To be like a child can be a good thing. Why? I think it relates to trust, an openness to “possibilities” not limitations. When I fly, I often think of Jacob, my son who died in 2004. Lifted to puffy clouds in an endless sky ignites mystery and brings Heaven closer to Earth. Likely, this is a childlike mind-set that heaven is in the clouds. But the ritual of remembering gets me to thinking. This thinking about loss is tricky, especially of my son. More often than not, the Jake connection is likely to bring me to tears. Being a private person and in the airport sea of strangers, I do all I can to hasten along these thoughts, closing with a prayer to the Almighty Coach for encouragement.  “Get me through this. Make the thoughts happy. Help!”

Do be careful what you pray for. Here come-ith the lesson. This day, Oct. 25, I was flying back to FL out of my stopover in Chicago.  Boarding, I found my aisle seat and stood waiting for my seat mates to annoy, crowd, entertain, or enlighten or some combination.  A large, elderly (86 years-old) woman took the remaining middle seat.  Being a book lover, I am often curious about what others are reading, especially travelers.  Our chatting began then over the book she was reading. She told me a story that came  straight from her heart, and (I believe from) heaven. I am not sure what to do with it, so I am writing it down. Her conversation began about the book she was reading, Heaven is for Real.  The book was a best seller. It’s about a boy who almost dies, actually he may have died during an operation but lived. She said a relative gave it to her because she had a son who had died a few years ago.  At age 21, he had suffered a terrible accident was left paralyzed. So this mom took care of him for some 50 years. Here was her answer to my question” “To what do your attribute your long and healthy life? “Well,” she said, “God let me take care of my son all those years. I could not stand to think he might have had to live in a nursing home. He had tons of friends and a wonderful attitude. You know ,” she said, “he never complained about his lot in life. Well, just once….He banged his fist on a wall and yelled out, ‘Why me, God?’ I went to the wall, she said, and I pounded back, ‘Why me, God?’ She said, he laughed and so did I. He added , ‘You really do have it worse than I do, don’t you, Ma?.’” I grabbed my hankie with the peppermint and eucalyptus. It was all I could do to keep it together. I wanted to understand the pieces of her story as they related to me and to Jacob. What would my life have been like caring for him for the rest of his years? Would he have been able to laugh at life? Not likely. He had all he could handle even when his days were good. I know this woman beside me is/was a “presence”. Yes, on an earthly note, she takes up a lot of my already cramped airline space. But on the spiritual side, she has been gifted to me this day. Just as my heart was sinking remembering Jacob, my childlike mind prepared for a “possibility” and another angel appeared.  It happens quite often. “I’ve got him,” says my Lord. Yes, because I am an athlete, & because I do have a childlike imagination, I like to picture our Lord like a great outfielder. He will catch us every time, & most gently at our finish, He will catch us for all time. Indeed, He has my Jacob. I pause, I look over at her, this 86-year-old. I don’t know her name. Her book is down, as she quietly mouths the words to the Rosary, fingers working along a lovely wooden bracelet. Thanks  be to God. Let me remember you Jacob in the way that God always remembers each of us: full of love, goodness, and of course….Possibilities.