A Story of Three People

I’m going to tell you a true story about three people:

Once upon a time, a woman was coming home from visiting her daughter and young granddaughters in Tennessee after Easter. She was looking for her seat on the plane out of Nashville. She had a window seat. Anyone who flies knows how one looks to see where 9F really is. As she came upon where she belonged, in the aisle seat was a young gentleman looking intently as each person came near. Whatever prompted her she didn’t know, but as she looked at the young man she said, “You have been looking for me, haven’t you?” One doesn’t usually say that to someone you don’t know on a plane. Right?! He answered with a smile, “Yes, I have!”

She got settled in her seat and he started to talk. He’s a frequent flier, an engineer by profession, and lives near Washington D.C. he confided that the more he flies, the more nervous he is becoming, especially when there’s turbulence. Then she read his book, he his paper, etc. In flight, they ran into turbulence. Without hesitation, she reached over and held his arm, asking if he was OK. A closeness developed as they talked about their lives and it helped him to feel less frightened. During the course of the conversation, they discussed the Pittsburgh Airport and how awful it is to find your gate for connecting flights. She took her ticket out to check again and he found she had read her connecting flight number wrong. He helped her get it all straight in her head. Then he said, “You stick close to me and I’ll get you to your flight.” He knew they had to take an outside bus in order to get to their flights and time was of the essence.

After getting off the bus and back into the airport proper, he told her, “Now stay with me ‘Lovely Lady’ so you don’t get lost like you almost did catching this bus.” She tended to march ahead. The mass of people in the airport was unbelievable; a novice as she was could have been buried forever trying to find Gate 5. He delivered her to her gate, where they parted company, hugging and saying one to the other, “I love you.” Both felt it and meant it. Then they turned and went their separate ways, never, no doubt, to meet again, but to be remembered always.

“OK,” says you. This is a story about two people, “Who is the third?” It is God, of course, For you see that’s how He works—through you and me, your hand to my hand in love. It was not by accident that they sat together on that plane. God knew he needed her and she needed him in a very real way. Believe it or not!

Norma Lucia Schieb