A poor old woman decided to fly in business class to be closer to her son. However, the passengers on board rejected her until they discovered her true identity.
Rhea felt insecure. That morning, the old woman had boarded the first plane leaving the airport and sat down in a business class seat, where wealthy people typically sat.
As she entered the cabin, no one gave her a glance, but once she found and took her seat, all eyes were on her. The reason was simple: she stood out like a sore thumb.
While the other present men and women all wore chic and expensive-looking clothes, Rhea wore her old, worn-out clothes—it was her best, but it looked dull compared to what the others wore.
“Maybe I should just go,” thought Rhea, and she began to gather her belongings with trembling hands.
As she stood to leave, she stumbled, and instead of catching her, as instinct might have, the man next to her stepped back as if to avoid being splashed with mud.
Rhea fell to her knees and accidentally spilled the contents of her handbag. With trembling hands, she began picking up her things, aware that everyone in the cabin had turned their attention to her.
An elegantly dressed old lady, who had been peacefully sleeping until awakened by the commotion, rose from her seat and also knelt down to help Rhea.
The cabin then fell silent, and the passengers stared in disbelief as one of their own treated Rhea like a human being. The first thing the woman picked up was a passport photo of a little boy.
“Thank you,” whispered Rhea, as she received it from her.
“That’s my son,” she said with a tearful smile, still on her knees. “He’s the pilot of this airplane.”
“He must have grown into a handsome young man,” said the wealthy old lady.
“I don’t know. I had to give him up for adoption when he was just five years old because I couldn’t afford to take care of him.” As she spoke, tears fell from her eyes, and the cabin remained silent.
“I’ve been searching for him for years, but I couldn’t find him. Recently, I learned he had become a pilot, so I started traveling from airport to airport looking for him. Today I found him, but I could only get close to him by boarding this flight.”
Rhea looked up at the onlookers, most of whom now averted their eyes in shame, then continued.
“I’m sorry if you all felt uncomfortable, but I wanted to be as close to my son as possible, so I saved my money to get this chance. Business class is closer to him, and I’ve never flown before, so I thought it would be a great birthday gift for myself.”
The passengers listened to her story, and when she finished talking, many were crying. Rhea finally stood up and walked to the flight attendants, who were eager to introduce her to her son.
“What if he doesn’t want to see me?” she asked, resisting their urging. “What if he hates me for abandoning him?” Before the flight attendant could say anything, the man who had been against her sitting next to him spoke up.
“You had no choice, I think he’ll understand,” he said before quickly disappearing behind his newspaper again. He too was ashamed. Rhea went with the flight attendant to finally meet her son.
After some time, a man’s voice was heard throughout the airplane. “This is the captain speaking… A special person is flying with us on this airplane—my mother, and it’s her birthday today.”
Everyone applauded the old lady, and those who had previously mocked her apologized for their mistake. When the airplane landed, the pilot, whose name was Joseph, met his mother, and finally, after many years of estrangement, Rhea held her son again.
What have we learned from this story?
Choose to be kind. When the man next to Rhea began urging her to leave the cabin, others joined in, and although the woman had done nothing, they eventually managed to move her to go. The only person who did not do what they did was another old lady. She stood up for Rhea even though she could have easily joined the haughty passengers, and her decision changed everything. Never give up. Rhea searched for her son for years but couldn’t find him, yet that didn’t stop her. She continued searching and was willing to do anything to meet him, even saving her hard-earned money for an expensive business-class flight. Her persistence and her sacrifices were ultimately rewarded, and she was able to meet him.
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