From time to time, I’ll post inspirational stories. That’s what we all want anyway, isn’t it…to be inspired and for our employees to feel inspired? I hope this story inspires you as the experience inspired me.
I’m shoving my way through the priority line, of which I am not a member. I notice a slightly rotund woman of deep color in unappealing clothes to my left and think, “She’s not in first class, so I can push through.” The next time I notice her she is sitting two rows beyond me…in first class…where I am not. I survey her briefly. Straw visor…no sun in airport, not much on plane. Large-floral print, short-sleeved blouse…not very becoming. Shorter in stature and stout.
I fall asleep exhausted from 16 hours of travel.
We deplane. I circle baggage claim and fall into a backless chair adjacent to first class lady. She immediately turns to my younger son and asks about his fedora. She uses vibrant language and has a joyful smile. I notice her teeth…braces? Very straight. Unexpected. She references Prince as my son proclaims purple to be his favorite color. The two of us break into song, “Purple Rain, Purple Rain…” The airport’s roof blows off and the skies open. I kid you not. At least that’s how I feel. I love this woman. She is on her way home from Michigan…for work. Wow, she works? “She must be old,” I had thought 30 seconds earlier. She asks where we had been. Norway. “Norway is beautiful. I flew from Oslo to Sogneford,” she says. What?? She’s been to Norway?! She continues, “Work has been good to me. I’ve been to Florence, Brazil….” She continues, I hear nothing…in awe of her. She smiles with crisp white, square-straight teeth and engages my children and me like a motivational speaker.
We stand to leave and I bid her adieu, hoping I see her again, wanting to ask her name and much more. I am moved by the experience and deeply grateful for the awkward beginning. Without my shame, I could not have felt the rapture of finding this soul mate. “Purple Rain, Purple Rain…”
Melinda
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