Special Moments…Being in the Right Place at the Right Time

There are just certain wonderful times in our lives when we are in the right place at the right time. I had one of those special moments last Wednesday at the Reagan National Airport as I was coming home from the Direct Selling Association’s annual meeting. I was at the gate waiting for my flight and talking on the phone with my Mom when I suddenly heard people clapping. I told my Mom that it must be soldiers returning and I would call her back. She told me to clap for her too!

I moved over to the nearby gate to join the crowd that had spontaneously gathered and discovered that in fact they were honoring soldiers. But these were not soldiers returning from the Middle East. They were soldiers from World War II who were coming in on the Honor Flight for a day in Washington D.C. People were lined up clapping and shaking their hands as they passed by in their orange T-shirts. Many were in wheelchairs, many had canes, and some proudly walked off the plane. Like many others at the airport, I choked up as I applauded these honorable men.

On the plane I ran into a friend of mine and he told me he was brought to tears as he saw the men coming off the plane. It reminded him of his father who also fought in the war but has since passed away. I also thought of my father who watched the flag go up on Iwo Jima and didn’t see me until I was a year old. He would have proudly joined the group were he alive today. These men tugged at the heartstrings of everyone in the airport that day because they reminded all of us of the sacrifices of our heroes and their families.

When I returned to the office the next day, I checked the Honor Flight Web site and discovered that the soldiers on Wednesday’s flight were from Illinois! Since the World War II memorial was completed, Honor Flight has brought hundreds of veterans to Washington to visit the memorial and be honored. It is a day that the soldiers, their families and the volunteers will remember forever.

And it was a special moment for me….when I was in the right place at the right time!