Strangers in flight

As I walked up the runway and out to the main concourse I realized that I never even asked her name. We sat together for over two hours on a flight from Providence to Cleveland. We talked about travel, work, our families and the upcoming plans for Thanksgiving. She was a girl in her late twenties. I learned she lives just outside of Providence and was flying to Cleveland for a presentation at 2:00 p.m. this afternoon. With any luck she hoped to catch dinner, go back to her hotel room and get a good night's sleep and then fly home early in the morning.

I told her about my three girls and a bit about their latest adventures. I mentioned that I was going to Kentucky to visit my parents and how it was going to be a complete surprise for them. In between snippets of conversation she returned to her book and I caught a few zzz's.

We were like strangers passing on a flight. We connected but as I deplaned I realized I would never see her again. I didn't even know her name. As I turned to catch her, I looked around and she was gone. It was almost as if I had never met her. It got me thinking about all the people who come in and out of our lives. We bump into them as we make our journey through life. Sometimes they walk with us for a summer or a year or two. Sometimes we dance with them for a song and then they are gone.

The truth is that we are always changed by the people we meet. They make us think. They force us to pause. They remind us of what is important. They frustrate us and send us looking for answers. John Donne once said, "No man is an island..." and he was saying that we are all connected. Think about it. We were created for community. God knew what he was doing when he made us.

The next time I meet someone new I am going to ask their name before the conversation begins. Then I will know the name of the angel God sent to cheer me that day.

Cal