It had been nine long years of fertility treatments, miscarriages and adoption stress, but Dustin and Caren Moore finally were on a flight home with their adopted baby girl in their arms. They nervously cradled their daughter, who was just 8 days old.
Midflight from Colorado to California on Nov. 9, Dustin Moore realized that the baby needed a diaper change.
A Southwest Airlines flight attendant named Jenny led the couple to a space where they could change their slightly fussy newborn.
The flight attendant, named Jenny, showed them a place in the back of the plane where the couple could change the baby girl’s diaper and asked some causal questions. The flight attendant was so curious as to why Dustin and Caren were traveling with such a young baby. The couple revealed that they had just adopted the infant after ten years of trying to conceive and exhausting all possible assisted fertility options.
After the diaper change, the Moores then returned to their seats, relieved that their new baby was now quietly sleeping. They had spent an exhausting week traveling and filling out paperwork. Finally, they were on their way back home with their new daughter. Although nervous and stressed, they were also excited about starting their new life together.
A few minutes later, another flight attendant came by and congratulated the happy couple on their successful adoption.
The flight attendant then made an announcement over the aircraft’s intercom about the special guest they had on board. The collective celebration that proceeded was one that the Moores are surely never going to forget.
“Five minutes later, Bobby came on the intercom and said, ‘Ladies and gentlemen, there’s a very special guest on the flight today. She’s only 8 days old and she’s traveling home with her mom and dad,’ ” Moore said in an interview with The Washington Post.
The flight attendant announced that he’d be passing out napkins and pens for anyone who wanted to jot down a message for the new parents. The cabin erupted into cheers and applause. A steady stream of people came by to coo and congratulate the couple.
“We had no expectation they would have done something like that,” said Dustin Moore, his voice cracking. “I get choked up thinking about it.”
The crew collected all of the napkins and even read some aloud.
A total of 60 napkins were collected from the passengers by the flight attendants and given to the Moores.
After more applause, the flight attendants bundled the 60 napkins and gave them to the Moores, along with a set of pilot wings. The flight attendants also told the Moores they themselves are married, and a fellow flight attendant had done this for them while they were on their honeymoon. They wanted to pay it forward.
“What all of those perfect strangers and attendants did not know, was the emotionally tender state of two brand-new parents. Parents who after 9 years of trying had been blessed with their first child. Parents who felt scared, but determined in their new role,” Dustin Moore wrote on Twitter.
The Moores, who adopted their baby through an agency, were at the hospital in Colorado when the birth mother delivered.
The adoption process is stressful and worrisome, Dustin Moore said, which made the celebration on the plane even more meaningful.
When Dustin initially got on Twitter, he wasn’t intending to share the story about the flight. As a registered dietitian and doctorate candidate in Public Health at the University of California at Irvine, Moore had originally got on Twitter to complain about work. However, he had a change of heart. Dustin told The Washington Post:
“I said to myself, ‘How about pointing out something good?’ I was tired of going to my Twitter feed and seeing something horrible somebody had done. I wanted to contribute something uplifting.”
Moore went on to talk about just how captivated he and Caren are by their baby:
“It’s just amazing having a daughter. All the little details that are mundane to other people are amazing to us. When she burps, we’re like, ‘What an accomplishment!’ It was a long, long wait for her, but every minute we had to wait was worth it.”
Source: apost.com, washingtonpost.com
