According to M-W.com, serendipity is the phenomenon of finding valuable or agreeable things not sought for.
Serendipity happened to me on Tuesday, October 17, 2017.
I was early to the airport - only because I was flying standby. Over the PA, I heard the invitation to come to Gate 38 to welcome WWII, Korea and Vietnam War Veterans to D.C. I grabbed Biskit and my bag and gathered with the crowd. There were flags, a quartet, an ambient buzz.
People were smiling, talking to one another, some teary eyed. Brené Brown defines connection as “the energy that exists between people when they feel seen, heard, and valued.” We were connected. The man on the PA directed us to the window to view the firetrucks give a water canon salute to the incoming heroes’ plane.
According to Dacher Keltner, professor of psychology at the University of California, “awe is the feeling of being in the presence of something vast that transcends your understanding of the world.” He also noted that, “in 1757, Edmund Burke detailed how we feel the sublime (awe) not just during religious ritual or in communion with God, but in everyday perceptual experiences: in hearing thunder, in being moved by music, in seeing repetitive patterns of light and dark. Awe was to be found in daily life.”
When the servicemen crossed the threshold, we were in awe.
This moment of daily awe brought to you by Honor Flight. The mission of Honor Flight is: To transport America’s Veterans to Washington, DC to visit those memorials dedicated to honor the service and sacrifices of themselves and their friends.
Honor Flight Network is a non-profit organization created solely to honor America’s veterans for all their sacrifices. They transport our heroes to Washington, D.C. to visit and reflect at their memorials. Top priority is given to the senior veterans – World War II survivors, along with those other veterans who may be terminally ill.
Of all of the wars in recent memory, it was World War II that truly threatened our very existence as a nation—and as a culturally diverse, free society. According to the Department of Veterans Affairs, an estimated 640 WWII veterans die each day. Our time to express our thanks to these brave men and women is running out. In 2016, 20,558 Veterans flew in to D.C. 27,272 veterans are on the waitlist. The time to help is now. (www.honorflight.com.)