Meeting Immaculee

This is Immaculee's nephew Ryan at the airport in NYC.

When I met Immaculee today I was in awe. I was tongue tied. What to say to a hero? And she is a hero. Not because of what happened to her, bad things happen to good people all the time. Bad things happen to all of us if we live to be old enough. Crime. Loved ones die. Accidents. Sickness. Bad things happen all the time. It’s part of life. What makes her a hero is how she dealt with it. Those days in the bathroom didn’t make her great. Bad things – good people. Things a happen. But that time in the bathroom made her stronger. She isn’t a hero because her family and the ones she loved were massacred. Bad things – good people. She hurt. She was angry. That was natural. She became stronger. She forgave. She is changing the world with the message of grace and forgiveness. That is supernatural. Coming out on the other side of that horror a better person – that’s what makes her a hero. And I am in awe. Could I forgive? No.

So when she rushed to the gate with her daughter and sister-in-law and nephew and Cindy and her other acquaintances rushed to her and snapped pictures of themselves with her I was embarrassed. Who am I? Why am I here? What can I hope to accomplish? Will I, in some way, be worthy of the resources it took to get me here? Will I make any kind of lasting difference?

Immaculee's sister-in-law, Souda, is feeding Ryan at the airport.

The plane was already boarded. Only my companions were left. When Immaculee was late we were nervous. Cindy called her cell phone and left a message. We waited. What would we do if she didn’t show up? Then she came. Like the wind. Radiant. Beautiful. Peaceful. And Cindy, “Immaculee, this is my good friend, Tim.”

Awk. Awk. Awk. “It’s nice to meet you.”

“It's nice to meet you too," Immculee said. We hugged. I don’t hug people I just meet.

Now we’ve been pushed back from the gate for about forty minutes. Seven or eight hours of flying time ahead of us. 6:55 PM, Friday, June 28. We are scattered all over the plane.