Frustration & Faith in New York City

Hey CKI!

I hope everyone had a great Kiwanis One Day, Passover, Easter, and any other holidays that have been occurring lately. Last weekend I traveled to Indianapolis to attend the Governor's & Administrator's Training Conference (GATC) with VP Ricardo and the great leaders of our organization. The weekend was a complete blast and I am so proud of all of the leaders that each district has elected to serve as their Governor this upcoming year - everyone is going to do such a great job!

So, if you know me you know that while I do fly often I run into troubles anytime I fly through LaGuardia airport in NYC. My travels on my way to GATC proved this theory correct! I was scheduled to leave Syracuse at 11:45am and after a 2 hours delay I finally left and landed in LaGuardia with only 30 minutes left to make my connection to Indianaoplis I really thought I wouldn't make it. Let me tell you I was wrong! After my flight failed to make it's 2:25pm departure the take-off time kept getting pushed up hour after hour after hour. Finally my fellow passengers and I found out we wouldn't be leaving NYC for Indianapolis until 7:30pm. As you can imagine I originally set out my day thinking I would land in Indianapolis at 4:45pm and now wouldn't be leaving until almost 3 hours after that I was a bit frustrated, cranky, and tired. I called our CKI Director Erin Fischer and told her "I am not a happy camper!" and some how her calming voice made me feel better.

So why am I blogging about annoying and nagging travel arrangements? I may not have landed in Indianapolis until 12:00am but I was reaffirmed a very important life lesson in NYC's LaGuardia airport and that is that there is a silver lining to every cloud. While waiting on my 5 hour delay I had the opportunity to meet 2 of the sweetest children I've ever met.

The first kid I met was named Danny and he was a 6 year old African-American boy traveling home with his dad after having surgery. He was in a wheel chair and had a hard time speaking. The reason why he had surgery his father told me was because he was terribley burned in a house fire last year. He wore a helmet, mask on his face, and had a prosthetic leg but he also had a beautiful smile. Danny and his dad sat next to me at Gate 2 and his wheel chair was parked right next to my seat at the end. His dad set up a coloring book and crayons on his lap and when I setting down my book Danny looked at me and asked if I would color with him. I looked at his dad with a chuckling smile and his dad handed me a coloring book and crayons as well. Danny and I must have sat there for 45 minutes comparing pictures, colors, and drawings and while I was getting my art skills on with this sweet boy I couldn't help but think of how amazing the concept of the innocence of children is. I think this is why Kiwanis is so important. I always have loved the Kiwanis motto of "Serving the Children of the World" but it really is ridiculously beautiful if you think about it. All around the world children are suffering from things like disease, hunger, neglect, and to know that as Kiwanians and as a Kiwanis Family we can make a difference and make the world a better place is an amazing thing. No, I didn't count my art project time with Danny as service hours but I wish he had a monthly report form to fill out. If he did he could list 45 hours of service to me because this little boy showed me that no matter how bad your circumstances are there is always time to make a new friend and there always time for crayons. :)

The second little girl I met couldn't have been more then 4 years old. I met her in the bathroom when she was trying to reach for the sink to wash her hands and couldn't climb or jump to get to the sink. I put my bags down and looked around to see if any parent, grandparent, or family member was with her but afer a really long wait realized she was all alone. Now don't get me wrong I don't go around lifting little children to reach sinks but this little child started to cry. I first had a lot of fury inside of me just thinking about the concept that a parent would let their 4 year old kid go to the bathroom in an airport alone but secondly wanted to help if I could. I crouched over and asked if she was by herself and after shaking her head yes she began to cry and repeated "I can't reach! I can't reach!" I lifted her up so that she could wash her hands and then after leaving the bathroom she realized she didn't know which gate her mom was sitting at. She grabbed my hand and started to essentially take off running. For a moment I was super nervous that someone (possibly her mother) would see us together and think I was trying to kidnap her kid. After she roamed around and couldn't find her mom she started to cry again. I took the girl to a US Airways agent who made an announcement for her parents to meet her at the gate. Come to find out her mom and sister were sitting up at the foodcourt located on the other side of the airport. I couldn't believe this kid had traveled this far! All that mattered at the end of the day was that she found her mom and I was happy to help by being dragged along by her. About 20 minutes later I'm sitting at home sweet home Gate 2 again and I have a half of a piece of an oatmeal raisin cookie thrown at my face and falls in my lap. Truthfully, I was like "what the heck!?" I looked up and it was the same girl I just helped (I wish I could remember her name.) She walked by with her mom and spotted me and apparently took off running again and wanted to give me half of her cookie. I gave her a hug and said thank you very much and her mom thanked me for returning her child.

I apologize for this blog post being so long but I just had to tell you guys about these 2 really sweet kids. I learned from Danny that no matter how hard you think your life is there is always someone who has it worse and to be sure to stop and enjoy the little things in life such as coloring. I also learned from the girl I helped in the bathroom that kids are extraordinary and her compassion and gratitude by giving me half of a cookie was one of the sweetest sentiments ever. To top things off at Gate 2/3 in LaGuardia there is a huge advertisement for the March of Dimes. Apparently, fate put me at that gate and I like to think that fate was the reason why I learned faith in children and the future amidst frustration at the airport.

In closing, always remember that you're never too old to learn/re-learn a lesson and you're never too busy to make a difference in the life of a child.

Have a great weekend CKI!

In the spirit of helping children around the world,
--Kristen