There’s an old African proverb — and an old Hillary Clinton book — that says that it takes a village to raise a child. If you don’t have an entire village, though, a kind stranger on an airplane might work too. In September, a stressed mom wrote a Facebook post about the wonderful seatmate who soothed her crying four-month-old during a flight to Atlanta. And, last week, another stressed mom wrote a Facebook post about the wonderful flight attendant who soothed her crying nine-month-old during a flight to New York.
Heather Gooch said that she and her husband were worried about how their first flight with their young son Aiden would go. Shortly after the Southwest flight took off from Fort Lauderdale, the baby got a little restless and the other passengers started giving her their best side-eye. Then a flight attendant named Anissa Charles stepped in, comforting Aiden and ensuring that the new mom and dad would have some quiet time to enjoy their trip. Gooch told ABC News:
“After we took off he started getting fussy and people were looking at us and I thought, ‘Oh great.’ [Charles] caught my eye and she said, ‘Do you mind?,’ and picked him up and walked with him up and down the aisle.”
Gooch said that Charles checked on Aiden for the duration of the flight, later picking him up again so that she and her husband could eat their lunch. After landing in Islip, New York, she attempted to contact Southwest to offer her sincere thank you to Charles, but couldn’t connect with anything but a busy signal. Instead, she turned to Facebook, in the hopes that someone might recognize Charles or be able to get in touch with her. Gooch wrote:
“[Anissa] went above and beyond to make sure that the trip went as smoothly as possible. I have NEVER had a flight attendant as kind and as helpful as she was. My son adored her and kept looking for her as she passed by […] Although this may not be a story that stands out from the rest, I wanted to thank her and let her know how appreciated she is.”
The post has been shared more than 58,000 times — including by both Charles and Southwest Airlines. “Y’all are going to make me cry!!! Lol it was Truly my pleasure and he made MY day!!,” Charles wrote in a comment. “I needed him more than he wanted me to hang out with.”