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Helen's Side of the Story:
My friends were planning a road trip to San Francisco
and to Napa Valley on Thanksgiving weekend in 2004. I
was bummed because I couldn't make it up with them
because I had to be here Thanksgiving Day (they were
leaving Wednesday night). I wasn't planning on going,
but one of them suggested that maybe I could fly up
and meet them there. They were going to spend
Thanksgiving Day in Davis so they suggested I fly into
Sacramento so they could pick me up. I scheduled a
flight for Thursday night on United Airlines (assigned
seating) and when I got onto the plane, there was
already a guy sitting in the aisle seat. I got in
(window) and we had an empty seat in the middle. No
one ended up sitting in that middle seat, and
mid-flight I got restless and asked him if he knew
what time it was (yes, I know… sounds like a typical
line) and that's when we started talking. I told him I
was headed to Napa Valley the next day, and he listed
a bunch of restaurants for me and my friends to check
out. I said “thanks” already knowing I suck at
remembering things. We went on to talk for about 15
more minutes when the plane landed. We walked out of
the plane and to baggage claim and he rattled off all
the restaurants again to be sure to check out, and I
said “honestly, I probably won't remember”… and that's
when he said he'd email me the list of restaurants. I
said, ok. I looked for a pen and paper and couldn't
find one! So, I just gave him my business card that
had my email address on it…
Greg's Side of the Story:
My family and I usually spend Thanksgiving weekend in
LA. That weekend, I mistakenly thought that I had to
work on Friday. So, I booked a flight for Thursday
night so that I could make it into work on Friday
after Thanksgiving Day. In the plane after the girl at
the window seat sat down, the airline stewardess told
everyone to make sure to have their seatbelts on and
to keep it uncovered so that if the passenger fell
asleep, they wouldn't have to be woken up for the
stewardess to make sure. I saw in my peripheral
vision, the girl who had just sat down, anally moved
her blanket so that her seatbelt would show. I smirked
(apparently Helen saw me smirk – told me later) and
started reading a magazine. The girl was a little
antsy and halfway through the flight she asked me what
time it was. From there, we started talking and at the
end of the flight we walked out of the terminal
together and kept up our conversation. I told her I
would email her the list of restaurants, and she gave
me her business card. I emailed her that night with
the list, and got a reply from her on Monday.
Apparently she didn't have access to her email! We
started emailing and talking, and with the short
flights (thank you Southwest) we were able to see each
other frequently and build a solid relationship
together.
Our story is such a chance happening. So many elements
could have been against it, but yet somehow they all
came together at the right time and place. We feel
blessed that we have been able to find each other with a strong supportive base of family and friends.
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