a stranger's kindness

(image source: everything-starstuff)

I was at the end of flight one of two, desperately hoping to make it home in time, when I turned on my phone to find out I was too late: my mother was gone.

As I sat there broken and crying while everyone was exiting the plane, a fellow passenger quietly reached over, handed me a tissue, gave my shoulder a gentle squeeze, and then moved on. I wonder if they ever knew how much that simple, caring gesture meant.

It still stays with me to this day.