We love to hear how our Employees make a difference in the lives of our Customers. Today, Southwest Customer Deborah Herst conveys the enthusiasm with which Flight Attendants Lisa Castignetti, Jamillah Shareef, and Avery Swanson hosted a birthday party in the sky for her dad!
Southwest Airlines brought my dad to a new “high” – both literally and figuratively. Upon learning my dad Mike Palmer was boarding Flight 2596, bound for L.A. on May 16 to attend his 95
th birthday celebration with family, the flight attendants arranged for a “Mile High” party with some help from the Boys and Girls Club of L.A. and all of the other passengers.
![Mike ready for takeoff](https://community.southwest.com/legacyfs/online/wordpress/images/uploads/2015/07/Mike-ready-for-takeoff.jpg)
The Boys and Girls Club passengers were returning from a National Convention in Chicago where they performed, so their voices were well trained, but more importantly, their spirit to fete my dad was genuine.
![Boys and Girls Club serenading](https://community.southwest.com/legacyfs/online/wordpress/images/uploads/2015/07/Boys-and-Girls-Club-serenading.jpg)
It all started when Flight Attendant Avery Swanson announced my dad’s 95
th birthday and asked everyone to flip on their overhead lights for “virtual candles.” She presented my dad with a Birthday “Cake” – creatively furnished out of a roll of toilet paper signed by the flight attendants and “alit” by birthday “candles” – red coffee stirrers! She also crowned my dad with a laurel of red pretzel packages, woven together with the red stir sticks.
She then invited the Boys and Girls Club of LA who, in beautifully blended voices, serenaded my dad with “Happy Birthday.” My dad returned the favor by singing “You Are My Sunshine” to the whole cabin and then gave a private performance of “Temptation” to the flight attendants
.
![Mike singing to Jamillah and Avery](https://community.southwest.com/legacyfs/online/wordpress/images/uploads/2015/07/Mike-singing-to-Jamillah-and-Avery-500x375.jpg)
Before taking off, I considered the flight as simply a means of getting to L.A. from Chicago. By the time we landed, Southwest Airlines took on a completely different image as a caring, customer-focused airlines, thanks to Avery, Jamillah, and Lisa who took the time to make my 95-year-old dad feel sooooooo special. He hasn’t stopped talking about it and played “show and tell” at his party, bragging about the cake while donning his crown. You created the “Mike High Club!”
![Mike Palmer Birthday Boy](https://community.southwest.com/legacyfs/online/wordpress/images/uploads/2015/07/Mike-Palmer-Birthday-Boy.jpg)
Thank you to your and your Southwest Airlines team for going “above and beyond.”