A Little Kinder

Stay with me for a moment. I want to tell you something.

I promise it won't take long. It's a memory from an airport, something I witnessed. You know, all sorts of things happen at airports; people seem to be either in a rush or just bored. But if you aren't in a hurry, you have every chance of finding a ton of stories.

We were waiting for our luggage. A crowd of people in a state of limbo, as if time itself had stood still. When you wait, time waits with you. The bags were late, so we all just stood there, staring at the monitors, then at each other, until we started to recognize our "colleagues" from the flight.

Not far away, a family was waiting with a child, maybe two years old. He could probably walk on his own, but he kept falling, so his parents had him in one of those baby harnesses. The child kept trying to move away, but he couldn't. At one point, the father left to check on something, leaving the mother alone with the little one.

The boy was in constant motion in that tiny space: climbing into his mother's arms, climbing back down, throwing everything he could reach, then reaching out to grab them back. Up and down, over and over. After half an hour, nothing had changed. Only the mother's face was red from exhaustion, and the man still hadn't returned.

Finally, the bags started appearing. With the child still strapped to her waist, the woman pulled her heavy suitcases off the belt by herself. Someone tried to help, but she was faster. Right after that, the little one climbed back into her arms. He clung to her. Her hands were shaking, but she held him with the last of her strength.

Then, another child, about four years old, walked up to them. I think he wanted to play with the little one, but by the time he reached them, the baby was already up in his mother's arms. The boy stopped in front of her, reached up, and simply stroked her hands.

At first, no one understood what was happening. Then, her eyes filled with tears. It was as if her shield had fallen—that shield that made her look strong, the one that wouldn't let her show she needed help. She leaned against something, patted the boy back, and smiled at him.

It was the most beautiful "thank you" I've ever seen. In that moment, everyone around them smiled. For a split second, it felt like we had all become a little kinder.