Mrs. Wilson, an 89-year-old woman, was about to fly for the first time in her life. Given her age, she was anxious about her first flight.
She has never flown on a plane and has never visited an airport. Mrs. Wilson purchased a business class ticket to ensure that she would be relaxed and comfortable the entire trip.
However, when she arrived in business class, she faced some opposition. Her encounter was far from pleasant.
It was beginning to appear that she had generated some ruckus aboard the plane. Mrs. Wilson became concerned and stressed all of a sudden. She could feel everyone’s critical gaze on her. Even the flight attendant seems agitated by the scenario.
Mrs. Wilson was at a loss for what to do. Mrs. Wilson was eventually allowed to sit in her business class seat, but the damage had already been done. She felt terrible and her body trembled as she tried to put her suitcase away.
An old photograph dropped out of her bag as she was putting it away. The antique photograph was taken up by the man seated next to her assigned business class seat. When he saw what was inside, his eyes widened.
He gazed at Mrs. Wilson as if seeing her for the first time. “Is this truly yours?” he asked, clearly taken aback by what he saw. What was in the image? Mrs. Wilson, who are you? And why are others refusing to seat her in business class?
Mrs. Wilson felt as if she had entered a foreign universe when she landed at the airport for the first time. She has spent the majority of her life in the province. To her, the airport was a mystical realm.
As Mrs. Wilson entered the building, her eyes widened. She’d never seen so much technology and people in one location before. There was a lot to see, and nearly everything was new to her. She was very overwhelmed.
Mrs. Wilson had no idea how the metal detectors functioned. She hid the keys to her house under her shoes so she wouldn’t lose them. As a result, there were alarms when she passed through the metal detectors.
Mrs. Wilson was startled by the loud noise. She was terrified as the security guard approached her. She didn’t know why but felt she was in big danger. When the guard requested her to accompany him, she reluctantly agreed.
Mrs. Wilson was escorted to a corner where two guards requested her to take everything out of her pockets. Mrs. Wilson was terrified as a first-time visitor, and the guards noticed her worried expression. They demonstrated how the metal detector operated and stressed the importance of inspecting any metal goods before boarding a plane.
They stated that the metal detector had triggered an alarm and that they would have to search her if she did not empty her pockets voluntarily. She went past the metal detectors numerous times before it was established that the key in her shoe was the culprit.
Mrs. Wilson was directed to the business class area after being relieved that she was not in danger. Mrs. Wilson had dressed up for her trip, but as she approached the business class area, she realized she was underdressed.
People she passed on the road had second takes when they saw her. Some folks were trying to avoid coming into contact with her. Some even looked her in the eyes, making her feel like she didn’t belong.
Mrs. Wilson could not download and print an online ticket, so she had to obtain a physical copy of her ticket from the help desk. The woman behind the counter was taken aback when the elderly lady requested a business-class ticket.
She was skeptical of Mrs. Wilson, but a review of their systems revealed that she was speaking the truth. The ticket had been purchased, and it was truly business class. Finally, the woman reluctantly handed her a copy of her ticket.
Mrs. Wilson almost missed her flight because of everything she had to go through at the airport. She had no idea where she was going and was mindlessly following other passengers going elsewhere. Mrs. Wilson began to fear as she realized she was lost.
Fortunately, an airport staff took pity on the elderly lady. “You look lost. May I help you with something?” she approached Mrs. Wilson. Mrs. Wilson was immediately relieved and nearly in tears. This person was the first to treat her with dignity that day.
The courteous airport employee escorted Mrs. Wilson to the department zone, who explained to the man checking the tickets that she didn’t know her way about the airport. The man took a double take when Mrs. Wilson approached with a business class ticket.
He confirmed her ticket and smiled condescendingly at her. The man then brought her to the gate marked on her boarding permit, where other passengers on her aircraft were awaiting their turn to board. He encouraged her to wait for the boarding call to avoid getting lost again.
Mrs. Wilson fiddled anxiously with her purse and began checking her watch now and then while waiting for the boarding call. A nice-looking young man saw her fidgetiness and inquired, “Is this your first time on a plane?”
Mrs. Wilson stated that she was flying for the first time. “I’m worried,” she said, her voice shaking. It was stated that it was time to board the plane before the man could respond. Everyone in the area began to grab their possessions.
A flight attendant approached the passengers and directed them to the boarding bridge that connected the plane to the airport. Mrs. Wilson felt nervous and excited as she realized she was about to board a plane for the first time in a few seconds.
Mrs. Wilson’s uneasiness was observed by the young man waiting for boarding next to her. He volunteered to accompany her on the plane. He escorted Mrs. Wilson to the boarding bridge’s entrance, where the tickets were checked.
Mrs. Wilson scrambled through her purse, looking for her printed ticket, while the young guy calmly waited. The young man looked stunned when she eventually managed to get the business class ticket.
He couldn’t believe this elderly, feeble, and unassuming woman had a business-class ticket. The young man began to feel envious. He had always wanted to fly first class but could never afford it. It was prohibitively pricey.
The young man then remembered their prior talk. This elderly lady has never flown before! In his head, the young man began to plot. If things went his way, he might be able to obtain the old lady’s first-class tickets. After checking in, the young man implemented his plan.
Mrs. Wilson accepted the young man’s offer to accompany her to her seat. She immediately felt grateful and followed the young man’s lead. The young man had intended to escort her to his seat in economy class. He reasoned that because this was Mrs. Wilson’s first flight, she wouldn’t notice the difference.
They had to pass through the actual business class section of the plane to get to the economy class section. The young man wanted to go through it as quickly as he could. Mrs. Wilson, to his amazement, knew exactly where she needed to be and came to a halt on the aisle near her seat.
Mrs. Wilson thanked the young guy for his generosity. The young man was dissatisfied. He’d missed out on traveling first class and had to make his way to economy class alone. He also felt foolish for being tempted to deceive the elderly lady.
Meanwhile, Mrs. Wilson sat back in her seat, relieved. She was relieved that the trauma was ended. All she had to do was sit back and relax till she arrived at her destination. But the nightmare wasn’t done.
Mrs. Wilson was sitting next to a well-dressed gentleman. When he saw Mrs. Wilson attempting to take the seat next to him, he became irritated. Before she could sit, he placed his magazine on her seat. He then asked the flight attendant, “This is business class, isn’t it? Why should I spend extra sitting next to this old person?”
The flight attendant faced the man kindly. “Mr. Thompson, please calm down. Mrs. Wilson has the same kind of ticket that you do. You can see it here on her boarding pass. You can check it yourself.”
But Mr. Thompson did not have it. He even got more annoyed by what the flight attendant said. He then sarcastically said in a rude, loud voice. “I don’t want to look at anything. I get it, I should’ve bought an economy class ticket.”
Mr. Thompson was making a scene and other passengers started getting involved. Some were openly against Mrs. Wilson’s presence in first class while others sympathized with the old woman. Mrs. Wilson was starting to become uncomfortable with all the attention.
Surprisingly, one of the defenders of Mrs. Wilson on the flight was the young man who thought of trying to steal her business class experience. He probably felt guilty when he heard the argument, so he immediately went back to defend Mrs. Wilson.
The young man was disgusted by how rude Mr. Thompson was. He could not believe anyone would be that rude straight to someone’s face. “Oh, for the love of God, Mrs. Wilson is much older than you are, and you’re behaving like a true low life by keeping her standing while you lounge comfortably in your seat.”
After hearing this, Mr. Thompson felt embarrassed and calmed down. He knew the young man’s words were true. He acted like an uneducated low-life, and he should have shown more respect toward the older lady standing before him.
The flight attendant was already flustered and did not know what to do next. It was then that she looked at Mrs. Wilson with pleading eyes. Mrs. Wilson sighed and said, “Never mind. Let’s not argue. I’ll switch to the economy class if I have to.” Tears filled her eyes as she said this.
Mr. Thompson immediately felt several pairs of eyes on him at once. He decided to back down and remove the magazine he used to block Mrs. Wilson’s seat. “Take your seat, Mrs. Wilson. It’s your rightful seat, and you paid for it in full. In more ways than I ever could.”
As Mrs. Wilson sat down, she did not notice her handbag snapped open. An old photograph with curved edges fell out of it. Mr. Thompson saw the picture fall out and bent down to pick it up. Feeling foolish about how he acted earlier, he tried to use the photo to start a conversation with Mrs. Wilson.
The picture was old, but it was still in good condition. He could tell the old woman took good care of it. “This picture probably means a lot to you,” he said as he gave it back to Mrs. Wilson.
Mrs. Wilson took the photo back from Mr. Thompson and looked at it fondly. Her face instantly lit up, and she looked prettier and younger. It was as if most of the wrinkles on her face had smoothened out.
“Yes, this picture means a lot to me. This is my son, Kevin. I’ve lost him since he was a little child.” she said. Upon hearing the old woman’s words, the other business class passengers leaned in, ready to listen to her story.
Mrs. Dorothy Wilson belonged to a simple and poor family. Her parents were able to grow a small farm, which helped them from starving when times got rough. The family had gone through a lot of troubles financially, but they were able to make it through somehow.
Dorothy is the eldest child. Because of this, she was partially responsible for her siblings. Peter, her youngest sibling, happened to be mentally challenged. Taking care of Peter took up most of Dorothy’s time since he required a lot of care and attention.
When World War II broke out, Dorothy’s father volunteered to join the army. He would be fighting against the Japanese military in the Pacific islands. Before Dorothy’s father left, he gave Dorothy a golden heirloom he inherited from his grandfather. He then asked Dorothy to keep the family heirloom safe until he returned.
Unfortunately, Dorothy’s father returned home in a coffin covered with the national flag. Their family was devastated by the loss. Dorothy’s mother took the loss badly. She became withdrawn and never met another man to spend the rest of her life with.
Years passed by, and Dorothy was thinking about starting her own family. However, she decided to remain by her mother’s side to help care for Peter. Her other siblings have long moved out and moved into a larger city with better opportunities. This left Dorothy, her mother, and Peter living the same fate on the small farm.
And just as she lost hope of getting married, Dorothy met Jack. She was 28 years old when she met the handsome shepherd. The two immediately fell in love, and their relationship developed quickly. Her family welcomed Jack, and Dorothy felt like she was living a fairytale.
Dorothy and Jack were talking about getting married when Peter set their house on fire one day. Jack rushed into the house of flames to try and save Dorothy’s mentally challenged brother. Ultimately, they both died in the fire, and Dorothy and her mother were left without a home.
Dorothy decided to sell Jack’s sheep and bought an old shack so that she and her mother had a place to live in. By then, Dorothy realized that she was pregnant. Unfortunately, Dorothy’s mother was showing signs of dementia and started acting out aggressively.
Dorothy has been fending off her mother’s attacks while pregnant several times. Her mother would often come at her with a knife and blame her for all their family’s troubles. Despite these challenges, Dorothy gave birth to a beautiful baby boy named “Kevin.”
Although Dorothy was overjoyed that she had Kevin, she was also haunted by the possibility that her mother would harm the baby during one of her aggressive rages. She lived every second in fear of her child’s life for three years until she had had enough.
Dorothy decided to send the little boy to an orphanage so that he would not have the same fate and misfortunes as he had. She believed she would be better off with another family than living under the same roof with his grandmother, whom she also could not turn her back to.
After leaving her son at the orphanage, Dorothy cared for her mother for several more years until her mother died. After mourning the loss of her mother, Dorothy returned to the orphanage hoping she would take her son back home.
Unfortunately, the long-awaited reunion Dorothy had imagined would remain a dream. She was informed by the orphanage that Kevin had been adopted a few years ago. Since then, Dorothy has spent the rest of her life trying to track Kevin down. This took several years until she recently succeeded, thanks to a volunteer organization that specialized in searching for missing relatives.
Mrs. Wilson proudly said that she bought the business class ticket to be closer to her son, who was currently flying the plane. That day is her 89th birthday. “Now I can die in peace. I’m not sure if I’m going to heaven, but I’m very happy that my son Kevin is doing well.”
The passengers who listened to Mrs. Wilson’s story were amazed and humbled by her life. Some even thought it had helped them look at life differently. Little did Mrs. Wilson know that the flight attendant went into the cockpit after hearing her story.
A few minutes later, an announcement was made over the intercom. “Dear Passengers, this is your captain speaking. Our flight is ending, but our lives don’t have to end. Our lives are full of ups and downs, but that’s no reason to believe that some of us are more fortunate than others. We all get opportunities from our birth, and our lives depend on how we use them without making mistakes.”
By this time, everyone was listening intently. They knew that this was no ordinary greeting from the pilot. The pilot continued, “We will not learn the joy of forgiveness. Therefore, we shouldn’t look for the guilty when there aren’t any.”
The pilot continued to say, “We shouldn’t hold a grudge against someone whom we might not be able to understand. And also I’d like to tell my mother, who is flying with us today, that I love her very much and forgave her a long time ago. She’s a good person, and she deserves to be respected.”
The plane was filled with applause after they heard Kevin, the pilot. When the plane landed, some of them even hung around to witness the reunion of mother and son. They wanted to witness this fantastic event and be part of this one-of-a-kind story.
Mrs. Wilson got to hug her son for the first time since she gave him up for adoption. Mrs. Wilson had happy tears as she gave Kevin their family heirloom. As she promised her father, she had kept it safe all this time, and now, it would be passed down to her son.
