Boyd once boarded a plane to Salt Lake City with the intent to relax and read on the flight. The woman sitting in front of him was crying and having a difficult time keeping herself together. Boyd initially tried to ignore her sobs and concentrate on his book, but he was soon filled with an overpowering feeling of compassion. Boyd says he "could feel the heaviness of her burden," and he somehow sensed the sting of her loss, though he didn't know specific details. As the woman got up to go to the restroom, Boyd felt prompted to pull out a piece of paper and jot a quick note. He wrote something like this,
"I know sometimes a good cry on a bad airplane can be a good thing and at other times it can be so horribly isolating that it can cause sadness to sink into despair. If talking would help, I did tell the flight attendant I was willing to assist all passengers in the event of an emergency." (Boyd was seated on an exit row). "If talking is not what you need, then my prayer for you is that in the quiet of today you may recognize the greatness of your spirit and the grandness of your soul; may your hopes rise on the wings of possibility and may you realize that you are not alone. Wishing you all the best, your fellow traveler."
Boyd folded the note and handed it to the woman as she returned to her seat. Shortly before the aircraft landed she handed him back a note filled with gratitude. The plane landed, taxied to the gate, and the passengers stood to exit. "Thank you," she said and then she disappeared into the crowd and was gone.
I think this story is a marvelous example of reaching out to a fellow human being, of being sensitive and caring, and the marvelous power of the written word.
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