Kindness, A Friendly Pilot, & One of the Best Gifts I Ever Received

Today was kind of a weird Saturday. Well, part of it was because it was just Cody and I at home for a few hours because Nick was at work and Paul was at rehearsal. They’re getting so close to opening night, which means the rehearsals are more frequent, more hours, and more stress for Paul. He’s at home on stage so I know he’ll be fine, but he’s juggling several parts (one a pretty major one) and understandably feeling the pressure. Send him some good acting vibes, would you please?

Since Cody and I had a few hours together and it was sunny with a semi-mild temperature outside, I thought it was a good opportunity to visit the airport. It wasn’t nearly as eventful as last Saturday, but we timed it pretty well because we got to see a few planes arrive, one fuel up, and a couple take off. Not bad for a short 30-minute visit. Cody was happy and I wasn’t freezing, so I’m calling that a win.

Cody Got Invited Onto a Jet – You Don’t Have to Ask Him Twice

While we were at the airport I remembered how I left you hanging last week when I shared that amazing thing that happened during our visit. You know, the one where Cody and I got to go on board a private jet owned by somebody really important. Anyway, I already told you all about that, but the day didn’t end with Cody being gifted with that super awesome hat. We actually ended up staying at the airport to wait for another large jet to arrive, which Cody also got invited to board. When I tell he LOVES airplanes it’s not even a little bit of an exaggeration. He literally darted toward the jet when an airport employee yelled and waved for him to come over. And it kind of melted my heart.

After that excitement was over I had Cody eat the lunch I packed for him and we decided to stick around for a bit. We had a rough idea when our new friend would be departing, but as the pilot explained to us, their schedule can change at any time. He told us it’s basically a waiting game. When they’re ready to leave they leave. If they change their mind they change their mind. It’s as simple as that. Let’s just say this particular day was one where they were expecting to leaving at a certain time, but the departure ended up being much later. It wouldn’t have been such a long wait if the sun didn’t disappear causing some of us to start shivering from the cold. There was no way we were getting Cody to leave, though, because they had already started the engine and he knew what that meant.

Pilots are Some of the Nicest Guys We’ve Met at the Airport

The most important thing I want to share from the rest of our visit that day is how personable and friendly the pilot was, especially with Cody. He actually recognized Cody’s autism and asked a lot of questions about what he can and cannot tolerate. He shared a fun story about how his daughter once brought him for show-and-tell at her school so he could show everyone his Super Bowl ring. He showed it to us, too. Well, a picture on his phone because that thing is seriously huge and would easily cover my entire wrist. I mean, I’d probably wear it everywhere I went, but I get that’s it not really practical when you’re a pilot. We chatted about football, he shared a really cool flight tracking app that I immediately downloaded on my phone, and then he did something totally unexpected.

After chatting with us for a while, the pilot went onto the airplane to check in with his co-pilot and do some other pilot-y things, I guess. In the meantime I was walking back and forth with Cody, one because he never stops moving, and two, because I was pretty darn cold and needed to warm up a little bit. Paul was sitting at a nearby table reading through his script when we both noticed the pilot coming back toward us, hiding something behind his back. He said something about how I deserved a hat, too, for all my team dedication and Cody dedication or something along those lines and then he handed me this…..

I told you he was a really nice guy. But wait, there’s one more thing I need to tell you and then I swear I’ll be at the end of the story about the most amazing day we ever spent at the airport. After waiting several hours, Mr. Kindness finally arrived back at the airport for his departure, but he didn’t rush onto the plane to leave like he usually did. He took a minute to come over to Cody and with a huge smile on his face he commented about how he couldn’t believe he was still there in the cold and he thanked Cody for putting on the new hat he gave him. We thanked him, watched him board his plane, and then watched in awe as that massive jet made its way to the runway and took off.

I hope we get the chance to tell him in person some day that Cody is officially a Patriots fan for life thanks to that most wonderful day at the airport when he met one of the kindest guys around.