Our seven-year-old daughter, Rainier, is lucky enough to have grandparents who just can't get enough of her. But it's not always possible for them to come to us, so last year, she started going to them. Yup--it's a little scary as parents to send her off on a plane. But on her first solo flight last September, even without knowing I was holding my breath until she landed, Southwest First Officer Gary Senior texted us from the plane to let us know that she was doing great. He even took a picture of her smiling with Mt Rainier in the background! So thoughtful.
Rainier and Mt. Rainier
On her second solo flight, she lost a tooth! The Southwest Flight Attendants helped her put the tooth in a cup to get it safely to the tooth fairy.
As if those two stories weren't enough to make us Customers for life, just wait. On her third solo flight in February 2017, she lost her teddy bear. We didn't notice while we were at the airport, but that night was a bit of a mess. "What will happen to him?!?" she cried. No amount of consoling about his big world adventure would do. By morning, things were better, but largely only because of her dad's excellent ability to distract her. We hoped she'd forget and didn't call Southwest since it seemed farfetched to assume we'd ever seen that bear again.
Rainier's teddy bear after his big solo adventure
On Febrary 27, Allison from Customer Service called my husband Brian's cell phone, unsolicited. Someone had turned the bear into her and told her about the little girl who had lost it. No joke. Allison said that she would drive near our house on her trip home from OAK so she would be happy to bring the bear by if that would be ok by us. Are you kidding me!?? Is anyone in today's world really that kind? It still makes me tear up. She didn't even want to give us her name, but Brian insisted so we could thank her. Check out the sweet note she left with the bear on our doorstop.
Thanks to people like First Officer Gary Senior and Customer Service Agent Allison, we really are Southwest Customers for life.
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