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Final Flight

bstevens
Adventurer C

Normally during the Thanksgiving Holidays, I stay home and earn Christmas money while my family travels.  Someone has to be at the airport to get our Customers out and back, and Southwest pays us extra to work the holiday.  However, this year was different.

As I've written in the past, my wife's mom, Mary, has been ill.  Since this could be her last Thanksgiving, I felt it necessary to go to Jacksonville (JAX) this year.  It turns out this was a wise decision.  The Monday after Thanksgiving, Mary was admitted to the hospice hospital.  My wife, Carol, went right back to JAX on Tuesday and was able to see her mom and visit before she passed away quietly in her sleep on Saturday afternoon.

Because Mary lived in Tennessee so long, she wanted to return to be burried here.  I spoke with my Managers at Nashville (BNA) and they helped make the arrangememts to fly her home on Southwest to honor her request.  Southwest also provided confirmed seats to bring my family to JAX for the funeral.  In addition, they gave my wife's family seats to Tennessee for the burial.

During the flight to BNA, I told our Flight Attendants that it was my brother-in-law, Steve’s birthday.  Our crew, Vita, Lee, and Tammy made it memorable by providing a crown made of peanuts and stir sticks, and a goodie bag full of snacks, playing cards and a coloring book.  It helped make a sad journey, a little nicer.

It has been a tough week but the assistance given by SWA and my BNA family has made it much easier.  This kind of compassion is rare in the business world.  But it is the norm at Southwest.  They truly live by The Golden Rule.
 
A special thank you to my local and regional Managers who gave the necessary approvals to transport Mary.  Dave, Mark, Eli, Laura, Neal, and Brian, I appreciate you all.  Also, to my Coworkers in BNA and JAX who assisted us and offered condolences, thank you for all you’ve done for my family.

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