My heart has never broken the way it did when I met a 102 year old woman on a flight to Virginia.  Flight attendant school never really teaches you about the people you meet, just the situations.

A pre-board accompanied by a nurse stepped onto my plane.  The plane I was on had a six step climb from tarmac to fuselage.  I watched this little old lady, MAYBE five foot tall, with wrists and legs as thick as my two fingers walk out refusing a wheel chair and then refusing the nurse’s aide up the stairs, hoist herself up.  She was a very strong willed, frail bodied woman.

While the other passengers were boarding and the pilots were taking care of paperwork, she told me about her yearly visits to Florida.  She and her husband had lived in Florida all of their lives, when her husband passed away her daughter had her move in with her and her family in Virginia.  She returned to Florida every year for two weeks to celebrate her and her husband’s anniversary.  She said that this year was their 86th anniversary!

As the plane took off I heard her say in a sad, regretful, sweet voice, “Good-bye my Florida, good-bye my Love, you will always be with me.”  I about cried.  Her nurse later told me that her daughter wasn’t letting her come back again.

The strongest, oldest, wisest, saddest person I ever met during my flight attendant career.

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