Watching your child walk onto a plane for a flight as an “unaccompanied minor,” can give you major stress. Now imagine that your child also has autism and may have problems communicating with passengers and crew at 35,000 feet.
A mom recently lived out this scenario. But before she sent her son on his first flight solo, she wrote a note for the passenger seated next to him.
She received a note back, and what it said stole her heart.
Photo Credit: Pixabay
Mom Alexa Bjornson posted her emotional story on Facebook.
She wrote, “Today my son took his first flight to Oregon to see his dad. I sent Landon with a letter to give to whoever sat next to me saying he has high functioning autism so he might be nervous and ask you ‘are we there yet’ a lot, and please just make him feel safe and comfortable, with 10 dollars in the note.”
A man named Ben ended up being Landon’s seatmate. He took the time to write Bjornson back and…well, let’s just say Ben is a very kind dude.
He wrote, “He did ask if we were there yet several times but he was a great travel buddy. We had a good time and played a few rounds of rock-paper-scissors. He’s a great kid and you’re a lucky mom. I appreciate the $10 but it wasn’t necessary. I donated it to Autism-Society.org in honor of Landon. Have a great day!”
The Autism Society is an advocacy group providing education and support to families living with autism.
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“I am so grateful to this individual, and that there are still kind people in the world who make a difference like I try myself to do as well,” she posted along with the picture of Ben and Landon. “Thank you so much Ben!!!!”
Ben, a complete stranger, soothed a nervous kid with conversation and games. Then, wrote a nice note so she knew what happened while her baby was out of her sight. He may never know how important that is to a mother.
When people are good to each other for no reason, that’s kindness.
