There are plenty of stressful travel stories, so it’s extra special to hear a heartwarming travel tale. Mom Alexa Bjorson shared a touching story on Facebook about her autistic 7-year-old son Landon’s first solo flight from Las Vegas to Oregon.
Landon, who has autism, was traveling to visit his father and was sitting next to a complete stranger during the flight. Bjorson shared, “I sent Landon with a letter to give to whoever sat next to [him] saying he has high functioning autism so he might be nervous and ask you ‘are we there yet’ a lot, and please just make him feel safe and comfortable, with 10 dollars in the note. And this is what I just received.”
Bjorson included a selfie in the post of Landon with Ben, the man who was seated next to him. Ben shared the photo with Bjorson after the flight, noting Landon was a “great travel buddy.” He continued, “We had a good time and played a few rounds of rock-paper-scissors. He’s a great kid and you’re a lucky mom.”
Ben also noted that the $10 wasn’t necessary – he donated the money to Autism-Society.org in honor of Landon instead of spending it on the flight.
Bjornson ended the post saying that she was “so grateful to this individual” and that she was thrilled to discover there are still kind people in the world.”
Bjorson’s post has since been shared more than 17,000 times, garnering 44,000 likes and more than 2,000 comments. The post has received so many positive comments, including “Oh my goodness! I love this tory!! Thank you, Ben for being such a wonderful human being!” and “Just the best things that’s happened to me today! What a great man.”
What do you think of this story of an autistic boy meeting the world’s kindest stranger on his very first solo flight? Sound off in the comments!