kindness
A stranger caught her at the airport. I got you.
The flight was canceled. A stranger two seats over decided otherwise.
About 30 years ago, six months into her Peace Corps service in El Salvador, Kate Rogan got a phone call from the country director. "His exact words were, 'Kate, I'm so sorry. Your dear mother has died,'" she said. The next hours were a blur of packing and airports, El Salvador to Miami to Boston. After she boarded her final flight, the pilot announced that Logan International Airport had closed for a snowstorm. Passengers began unbuckling and gathering their bags. Rogan started to sob. "I said loudly, 'No, no, no, no, you don't understand. I need to go to Boston. My mom just died.'" A hand landed on her shoulder. It belonged to another passenger, who said, "Come with me. I got you." The woman got her a hotel, knocked on her door the next morning, and stayed with her until she reached her sister at baggage claim in Boston. Rogan never got her name.
