So many memories to choose from! I was hired back in 1996 as a Rapid Rewards Writer. As you can imagine, it takes time to get to know everyone, especially considering there were more than 100 Employees in the department at that time.
After being at Southwest for just a few months, sadly, my Mother had a heart attack and ultimately had bypass surgery. She was only 49 at the time! Yikes.
In true Southwest fashion, my Leaders made arrangements for me to be there for her surgery. So, where the does the SWA memory come into play? After a short visit with my family, I returned to work. About a week later, my Mom called to ask me if I knew a particular person from Southwest, because she had received a handwritten note from this stranger. The note wasn’t from the Company, but rather an Employee in Rapid Rewards who I didn’t know. Over the next week, my Mom received dozens of cards from complete strangers! It was clear that word had gotten out about my family situation and the wonderful Employees of Rapid Rewards (many of whom I didn’t know) took a few moments out of their busy days to cheer up a complete stranger. It forever cemented how great I feel about our Company and the Employees who I work with.
Of course, over time, I was able to get to know many of my Coworkers and couldn’t thank them enough for being there in my time of need. It’s still incredible to me how wonderful, caring, and LUVing everyone was and continues to be. As a result, I was able to make some lifelong friends who continue to be a part of my life many years later.
There is a happy ending. My mom has fully recovered and is doing better than ever. I look back at that time and realize just how lucky I was (and continue to be) to work with Coworkers who I respect and LUV. I never take for granted the LUV that was showed to my family.
