Stranger's Simple Act of Kindness Makes Mom’s Flight With Infant Unforgettable

A mother’s Facebook post thanking the stranger who helped her through a tough flight alone with a newborn is going viral this week.

Rebekka Garvison traveled with her 4-month-old daughter Rylee from Chicago to Atlanta on Thursday. It was a last-minute trip to surprise her husband, an active-duty Army firefighter stationed in Alabama, according to Mlive. Garvison was stressed about the travel, especially juggling the baby, the carseat, the luggage, and the stroller all by herself. But what happened when she boarded the plane made the flight easier than expected. It was something unusually special — and resonated with others so much that Garvison’s Facebook account of the chance encounter has been shared more than 95,000 times.

STORY: Professor’s Act of Kindness Moves Single Mother

“As soon as we got on the plane at 5:30 AM it was very quiet and it was a full flight,” Garvison wrote on Facebook. “I noticed that the [two] seats next to me were taken and this couple looked very annoyed and I could tell by their body language sitting right next to me that they weren’t thrilled about sitting next to Rylee. Of course I’m already stressing and then Rylee started crying when we were just getting ready to taxi.”

STORY: NICU Nurse Gets Touching Thank-You From the Kids She’s Saved

The new mom noticed that two rows in front of her, there were two empty seats, and she thought the extra space might make the flight easier. After getting permission to change seats, Garvison found herself sharing a row with an “amazing woman,” she explained on her Facebook page. “I’m not sure if she could tell how stressed and upset I looked or what, but she turned our day completely around. Rylee wouldn’t stop crying no matter what I would try and do….so she had asked if I didn’t mind if she tried and of course I let her,” Garvison wrote, alongside photos of the stranger holding Rylee. “As soon as she had her, Rylee was looking out the window and stopped crying. When we got in the air she fell right asleep and slept in her lap the whole flight until we got to our gate. She kept saying it wasn’t a problem at all and it was actually a comforting feeling for her. She even carried her off the plane and held her so I could get the stroller and carseat put back together so I wasn’t struggling to try and do it all alone.”

Rebekka Garvison with daughter Rylee and her husband, active-duty Army firefighter Nick Garvison. (Photo: Rebekka Garvison/Facebook)

Garvison said these simple gestures from Nyfesha Miller (pictured at top of page), the stranger in the window seat, were a blessing. “Nyfesha Miller, you will never understand how happy this act of kindness has made my family,” Garvison wrote. “You could’ve just rolled your eyes and been irritated like everyone else, but you took her and held her the entire flight and let me get some rest and peace of mind. It brought tears to my eyes while I sat there and watched you and Rylee sleeping next to me. I just couldn’t believe how that ended up working out and how caring you were to us. Thank you SO much!! God bless you!!”

The post has struck a chord, especially with parents who have been in the stressful situation of flying alone with an infant — and who’ve been on the receiving end of the annoyed side-eye that often comes from fellow travelers who spot a baby boarding a plane. “Everyone who has traveled with an infant knows exactly what I was going through,” Garvison told MLive.

But Miller, who has three children herself, seems overwhelmed at the response. “I never thought it would become a big deal, to simply help someone in need,” she wrote on her own Facbeook page.

Miller also responded to Garvison’s online post, explaining that she was nervous when she saw Garvison heading into her airplane aisle. “I guess being a mom of 3 and remembering how I felt traveling with babies and getting the annoyed feeling from others (as I managed fussy babies), prompted me to step outside of myself to aid in your apparent need for assistance,” she wrote. “In the end, I walked away feeling more blessed, to bless you. So happy to have met you and your beautiful [Rylee] and I pray for your continued success in parenting, marriage and life overall.”

Neither Garvison nor Miller responded to Yahoo Parenting’s request for comment.

Garvison, who spent the week her husband and Rylee at the army base, is returning home Wednesday and told MLive she hopes to be seated next to someone who caught wind of the viral story. “Now I am hoping when I fly back Wednesday I might run into…a sympathetic person,” she said. “[Rylee has] been so fussy lately, I think she’s teething.”

In a post on Tuesday night, Garvison said her family visit was “amazing,” especially because “we were able to encounter an amazing woman who we can now call a lifelong friend.”

(Top photo: Rebekka Garvison/Facebook)

Please follow @YahooParenting on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest. Have an interesting story to share about your family? Email us at YParenting (at) Yahoo.com.