Day 9: Thank You, Southwest!

It is the small things in life that mean everything. It is also the small things that we do not recognize enough on a day to day basis.  

When we found out the news of our loss, I was away on business in Austin. The trip home was the longest, most agonizing period that I have endured. There was such a feeling of helplessness hearing Ellaine's pain and not being able to hold her or even talk to her for hours at a time. I will remember it as the worst day of my life. 

The bright spot on that day came from the employees and individuals within Southwest Airlines. My flight home was not scheduled to get in until after midnight and every other route home was long since booked up (not to mention the substantial change fee that was to come with it).   

Somehow though, a seat freed up (I'm fairly certain someone offered to give up their seat for me). The gate agent gave me my initial ticket and ignored my credit card, telling me to get home to my wife. She informed me I would need to get the ticket for my next leg printed in Ft. Lauderdale. Once there, it took a quick exchange, and the gate attendant hugged me and told me "it will get better" and shared he lost a kid, too.  

I eventually got home three hours early because of Southwest. While it does not seem like much time, those 180 extra minutes meant the world to Ellaine and I. When every second felt like an hour, being able to hold Ellaine's hand was the first light I felt on that day.

The little touches of empathy and humanity exemplified by Southwest is something that is not often seen in any company, especially one in the airline industry. Because of the uniqueness of what they did for us, we took the time to write our first ever letter to a corporation to thank them for what they did. It was a raw experience reliving that day with many tears shed, but we are glad that we did it. Thank you Southwest for inspiring us.