I flew into Frankfurt from Moscow. I was on a four hour layover for New York. I was in one of the many restaurants, tired and minding my own business. The girl, a college kid, sitting beside me started to search through her bag desperately. She got more and more anxious, emptying out her bag all over the table. I asked her what was the matter, she had lost her boarding pass. She searched everywhere. I tried calming her down, but she was past being calmed down.

I called the waitress over and paid for her table and mine and asked her to go with me. I took her to the airline desk and had her tell them she had lost her boarding pass, she showed her passport and she got a replacement. I walked her to her gate. The kid was embarrassed but still scared so I sat with her at her gate until she boarded. I remember her hug, it is the simply the warmest, most heartfelt hug I have ever received.

I think of her often, a lost sheep in a world of wolves. A bit exaggerated, but for her that day it is not an exaggeration. I hope she is doing well, that she has a family and that when she hugs her kids, she hugs them with the same heartfelt feeling that she hugged me that day.