A woman traveling with her husband via airplane hears the pilot talking and immediately recognizes his voice — he was a life she had touched years before.
Linda was content with her life. She was a judge with a large amount of influence. She had achieved a lot career-wise.
It was primarily because of her empathetic nature and unerring sense of judgment that helped her make the right calls in court. Besides that, she was a genuinely happy woman who had everything that spelled success. Her career was blossoming, and so was her family.
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Linda came from a wealthy home and had been lucky enough to marry into another wealthy family and her husband Larry loved her completely.
Given how rosy her life seemed to be, it is no wonder that she had a lot of love to give. She was extremely kind, and she loved children very much.
One day, Linda joined her husband on a flight headed to their favorite vacation spot. It was their first in more than six months.
“I still feel terrible for leaving the guys to deal with all the work back at the office,” she told Larry as they sat in the aircraft.
“You’ve been working a lot these past few months and so have I, we deserve a little break and some time to one another,” Larry said.
The trip had all been his idea — he was terribly upset about her working so much that it seemed like they no longer saw much of each other.
They were discussing the topic when the pilot started to address the passengers.
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“Hello people, this is your pilot Jackson, speaking. We will touch down in the Maldives in a few minutes so please fasten your seat belts and remain seated.”
After the announcement, a slow, excited murmur spread out among the passengers, but Linda was frozen in place. “I know that voice,” she thought. Then she recalled the name.
“Jackson — I know that name,” she said to herself, turning the moniker over and over in her mind.
“Honey, are you okay?” Larry asked her just as she remembered why the name lit a bulb in her mind.
“I remember the pilot’s voice,” she said as the plane touched down and taxied down the runway.
As they were getting off the plane, she decided to hang back a bit for the pilot to see him and confirm that it was the person she knew.
Larry had to patiently wait beside her as she stood, waiting while the other passengers made for the airport.
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“The things we do for love,” he sighed to himself.
When the pilot exited the plane, he locked eyes with Linda and also froze in surprise. Then he hurried towards her with tears in his eyes.
He couldn’t believe his eyes. As soon as he reached the couple, he threw his arms around Linda, hugging her tightly as he cried.
It turned out that 19 years ago when the pilot was just 18, he had been involved with a gang of older guys who engaged in petty robberies and hooliganism. On one of their petty theft missions, the police arrived faster than they expected, and everyone ran away.
Jackson had never stolen anything in all his time with them, always just watching for the police so he could give the alarm. That day everyone had been in a state of panic, but all escaped except him.
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He was too slow and inexperienced, so he fell into the hands of the police. Left to the mercy of the cops, he was forced to identify the gang members to show that he was truly remorseful.
Out of spite, the gang lied that he was a big part of their operation, so he was also charged with petty crime and taken to court. Linda’s court.
The woman was level-headed with the case. Since he did not steal anything but had been a witness to the gang’s nefarious actions, it was up to the judge to decide what the verdict would be.
She could have sent him to juvenile jail or a correctional facility, but she was kind to him and believed that he would set himself on the right path after the incident. In her court, she took pity on him and acquitted him of all crimes.
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“Thank you,” he had called out to her as she rose to leave the court that day. “I promise to study hard, go to university and become a good person!”
That day at the airport, Linda looked into Jackson’s eyes and knew that the boy could also recall those moments.
“You kept your promise,” was all she said when she managed to peel the overgrown boy off herself, and when he nodded, she patted his cheek affectionately and left with her husband.
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“Ah, I see, another one of your cases,” Larry said with a reverent tone.
Jackson was not the first person they would run into who felt nothing but respect and adoration for his wife. It always made him proud to be the one standing by her side in such moments.
“I’m just glad I made the right decision for his sake,” she told her husband.
What did we gain from this story?
- Never stop believing in second chances. Linda could have sent Jackson to jail for being a witness to the petty thievery the gang he was with had engaged in, but because she knew the importance of second chances, she chose to let him run free. He never forgot the favor, and it woke within him the determination to make something of himself.
- Don’t run with wolves unless you’re ready to eat sheep. Jackson was a good boy and had slowly been getting corrupted by the gang of boys he was dealing with. They almost cost him his life, but luckily he ran into an angel-like Linda and was given a second chance.
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