No Baby
I was a wheelchair attendant at the airport. I got used to carrying tissues in my bag because of the many tearful good-byes I witnessed. Often, children of parents from another country would order a wheelchair for their parents because they didn’t speak English and the children wanted to make sure they made it to the correct gate. There were lots of tears because of the distance and expense of international travel and how long it would be before they saw each other again.
However, there are two that stick out:
#1: Mother and daughter saying good-bye, the daughter, who looks pregnant, is my wheelchair passenger. I figure she is having some complications with the pregnancy. There are more than the usual amount of tears. When they are done, I am taking the daughter through TSA, asking normal questions about liquid in her bag, electronic devices in her pocket, etc. I phrased the question something like, “are you carrying anything else, besides the baby,” in a lighthearted tone. She says “No baby.” My heart just dropped. Turns out Mom literally had to pick her up from the hospital and driven her directly to the airport after having a miscarriage (thus needing the wheelchair). After we got through TSA, she got out a small stuffed animal, obviously meant for her infant, and cried silently into it the rest of the way to the gate.
#2: woman traveling back to the Ukraine. The passenger, clearly ill, sits down in the wheelchair and I step back to let the family say good-bye. Of course there are a lot of tears. The adult daughter is inconsolable. As I am pushing the passenger to the gate, I’m chatting with my passenger’s traveling companion who is walking with us. The companion reveals that my wheelchair passenger is terminal. It was likely the last time the daughter would see her alive.
Story credit : Reddit / Dragainin