Ok.. today was a first.

I boarded the plane to come back to the blizzard (which is long gone and my car was bone dry in the airport parking lot).

I walk back to my seat that is in the middle of the plane.
I notice the person I will be sitting next to is already in her window seat. As I get closer, I realize that she a has bright bubbly face and she is smiling. I pop in, shoving my laptop under the seat and notice she is a bit large. So, large in size that we cannot put the arm rest down between us. I am ok with it. Lord knows I traveled with the Army in much tighter places with duffle bags on our laps!
She is very sweet and we strike a quick casual conversation.
I am not an airplane talker. I usually nap, pretend I am napping or read.
I am not that uncomfortable, but I can tell she is. I scoot over and give her as much room as possible.
I am thankful that I was sitting next to her, I scanned the other seats and realized what a truly uncomfortable ride it could have been for others. I really can not pinpoint exactly how I felt, a mixture of compassion and thankfulness and awkwardness.

I thought about her for awhile today…