Parents stress about flying with young children. It’s almost a parental nightmare, so imagine how Rebekka Garvison felt when she arranged to fly alone from Michigan to Alabama with her three month old baby girl Rylee to surprise her husband Nick, a firefighter in the US Army.
She was quite stressed with just how she was going to manage carrying Rylee, her luggage and the necessary baby gear with no help.
When she finally made it on the plane she noticed the two people she was seated with were not impressed to be sitting next to an infant, a feeling she picked up from their obvious body language. “Of course I’m already stressing and then Rylee started crying when we were just getting ready to taxi” Rebekka expressed in her post on Facebook.
With baby Rylee crying she asked a flight attendant if she could move after spotting two empty seats next to each other, this would make her journey a little easier having more room to move around. Rebekka Garvison’s day had turned for the better not only because the flight attendant agreed with the switch, but because of the simple kind gesture of another passenger, Nyfesha Miller, sitting in the seat next to Rylee and Rebekka.
“I’m not sure if she could tell how stressed and upset I looked or what, but she turned our day completely around. Rylee wouldn’t stop crying no matter what I would try and do….so she had asked if I didn’t mind if she tried and of course I let her. As soon as she had her, Rylee was looking out the window and stopped crying. When we got in the air she fell right asleep and slept in her lap the whole flight until we got to our gate”.
But Ms. Miller’s good deed didn’t end there, she continued to help the young mother by holding her baby girl for her whilst she put the stroller and baby car seat back together so she wasn’t struggling and trying to do it alone.
“Nyfesha Miller, you will never understand how happy this act of kindness has made my family. You could’ve just rolled your eyes and been irritated like everyone else, but you took her and held her the entire flight and let me get some rest and peace of mind. It brought tears to my eyes while I sat there and watched you and Rylee sleeping next to me. I just couldn’t believe how that ended up working out and how caring you were to us. Thank you SO much!!
God bless you!!”
Since posting about her experience, her story has now been shared over 89,000 times and picked up by news outlets around the world, even shared on Ellen. She has copped some backlash though, with accusations her of posting the story only to gain publicity however she maintains it was only to help raise awareness and hoped others would help out if they see parents in need of a hand.
Thank you Nyfesha for your selfless and beautiful act, it is because of people like you that keep this world going, and thank you Rebekka Garvison for sharing your story.
Rebekka and Rylee enjoyed spending some much needed time with their husband and daddy. We wish this lovely new family all the best.
