As you may have noticed I have been absent for the past few days from the blog. My brother got married in the Orlando LDS Temple on Friday! And since it was Orlando I just had to use the opportunity to take a few of my kids to experience the Magic Kingdom and Universal Studios (particularly Hogsmeade and Harry Potter World). We had a wonderful time! I got lost traveling from the airport to our hotel (it was 11:30pm and I don’t have a smartphone with GPS, nor am I very smart on my own apparently).

The girls got to enjoy Space Mountain, Splash Mountain, eat a turkey leg, meet Belle, Snow White, and Rapunzel, feel as if they were flying on broomsticks at Hogwarts, drink frozen butterbeer (was it ever delicious!), go on a Jurassic Park River Adventure, and most importantly, dream about their own wedding someday in a temple of the Lord.

We had long flights and are suffering some major jetlag today (Saturday) as we had to get up at 1am Nevada time to make our early flight out of Jacksonville. One thing I am very grateful for this evening is the kindness of strangers. As I traveled with my three girls and baby J we had some tight flight connections to make. They were all troopers and behaved so nicely. After our first flight as all the passengers stood up to get their carry-on luggage an older gentleman in front of us commented on how well-behaved the girls and baby were. He really complimented the girls on how obedient and kind they had been and told them how rare it was for him to see that as he travels. Later as we finally made our way off the plane a stewardess paid similar compliments to the girls and another stewardess told me, “A gentleman told me you deserve a medal for how well-behaved your children were during the flight.” I suspect it was the same kind man. It lifted my spirits and I felt the stress that had been building up melt away. Oh, the kind words of a stranger!

On our way home there were several strangers who offered to help stow our luggage or switch seats (without our asking) so we could sit closer to one another. They were kind and understanding when Junior Mint started to fuss. Thankfully it was only for a short 3-4 minutes. Many times as I held him facing me I could see he was staring and smiling at someone behind us. All told there were three gentlemen and one kind woman who enjoyed making faces at Junior Mint and watching his reactions. He was such a good baby! It was truly a tender blessing.

Our experiences in flying this week have reminded me that there are good people everywhere. I am also reminded that kindness goes a long way. It is a gift to be shared with others. And when one shows kindness it spreads.

I am grateful for kind people.