“Monday, April 2nd, I was informed by family members my father’s health took a nosedive and he wasn’t expected to live more than a couple days, and I needed to come home ASAP.
I talked to my leadership that night, and the next day, I was able to take emergency leave and fly out.
I was scheduled for 4 flights that would get me home around midnight. My first flight took off late, causing me to miss my next flight. I was freaking out, but the flight attendant told me there was one more flight going to where I needed to be.
Before I boarded my second flight, a man came up to me because I had Shiva (she’s my service dog) and showed me pictures of his Malinois. He told me he served in the National Guard and he grew up around the same place I did. Before this flight landed, I found out my last flight home was cancelled.
As I’m getting off the plane (it’s about 9:30 p.m.) I’m texting and talking on the phone with my family trying to figure out how to get home that night. Then 2 flight attendants approach me saying they were able to get me a flight that leaves at 11:30 p.m. While the flight attendants are telling me this, my family is telling me they’ll drive 5 hours to come get me.
Then, the man I met before boarding my second flight came up to me while he was on the phone. He told me he was arranging for a professional driving company to drive me from the airport straight to my house, all at his expense.
I was apprehensive at first, but he showed the receipts to the flight attendants, and when the driver arrived, he sent them a picture of the car, the license plate and the driver. Before I left, he said all he wanted in return was for me to let him know I made it home.
The driver drove me from Chicago Airport, almost 5 hours to my front door. I got home about 3 a.m. on Wednesday April 4th. The driver told me it cost the man almost $900.
Thanks to this man’s selflessness, I was able to make it home and say goodbye to my father before he passed a day later on the morning of April 5th.
There really are good people in this world, and I will never be able to thank him enough for what he did. But I hope one day I will be able to pay it forward to someone in need like it was done for me.”
This story was submitted to Love What Matters by Brittany Bunker of Ohio. Submit your story here, and subscribe to our best love stories here.
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