What are the odds of strange things happening at any given time? Something out of the ordinary happened to me today. I don’t know if it was a coincidence or a miracle.
One of my Army buddies came to visit me for two weeks. We tooled around Germany and went to France twice. We had a great time. I took her to eat at French, Moroccan, and German restaurants. Unfortunately, all our fun came to a crashing halt when it was time for her to return to the USA. Two weeks was not long enough for her visit.
I drove her to the Frankfurt International Airport this morning. After getting my parking ticket, I found a spot that turned out to be quite a walking distance for both of us from the main entrance to the airport. The first thing we did was get one of those large metal carts for her luggage.
After loading her bags onto the cart, we walked the distance of about a mile down the long corridor on Level 2 at the airport. We finally reached the double doors, which allowed us entry into the airport. Then, we pushed the cart to the Lufthansa special assistance check-in counter.
Unfortunately, both of us suffer from bad knees from our Army days and have difficulty walking great distances. She had her walking cane with her, but I regretted that I forgot mine in my car. Since she requested specialized help from Lufthansa, she got a courtesy ride to their security check-in area.
After she checked in, we waited for a driver with an electric car to take us to the security check-in area. When we arrived there, my Army buddy and I got out of the electric car to hug and say our goodbyes. I watched her as she went through the security check with no problems.
Knowing that I had quite a walking distance ahead of me to get to the area to pay for my parking, I asked the driver if she could take me to the closest elevator. From there, I wouldn’t have that far to walk to get to a parking ticket machine before heading to my car. She told me that it would not be a problem. Feeling thankful, I got back into the car, and then she took off.
I knew that I had put my parking ticket in my left coat pocket. So I reached in to get it but couldn’t find it. I didn’t panic yet, but I checked my other coat pocket and couldn’t find it in there either. I thought I might have gone into my coat pocket for something and accidentally pulled out my parking ticket. I thought I may have dropped it somewhere on the floor on the ride to the security check-in area. That’s when I panicked.
I told the driver that I couldn’t find my parking ticket. She looked a bit worried. Without me asking, she said she would backtrack the route we took to the security check-in area. She wanted to see if I could have dropped it somewhere on the airport floor. I scanned the floor as she drove but didn’t see my ticket. So she took me back to the Lufthansa check-in area. She stopped the car and got out to go look around to see if I had dropped it on that floor. She even checked with the two ticket agents behind the counter. She asked them if anyone had found and turned in a parking ticket. No such luck. When she returned to the car and said she didn’t find it, I was heartbroken.
But she calmed me down a bit by telling me not to worry. She told me to go to any of the parking ticket machines on Level 2 and press the customer service button at the top of the machine. She assured me that someone from customer service would help me. She also cautioned that usually, if a person loses their ticket, they would have to pay for parking the entire day. I knew I didn’t have enough Euros to cover that, but I would follow her advice and try to get help from the parking ticket customer service. I told her that I didn’t speak German well enough to be able to talk to whoever would answer the customer service button. Again, she told me not to worry about that because they all could speak English too. I felt relieved after hearing that.
Shortly, she dropped me off at the elevator so I could get to Level 2. I unbuckled my seat belt and got out of the car. As I did that, something led my eyes to the floor behind her seat. Amazed, I saw my ticket on the floor behind her seat! How it got there? I don’t know. But I was so happy to see it.
I almost jumped for joy as I pointed to my ticket on the floor behind her seat. She was as happy as I was about this little unexpected blessing.
I picked the ticket off the floor of the car, thanked her for the ride to the elevator, and then she left. I didn’t think I would have a problem from there. I waited for the elevator so I could go downstairs and pay my parking fee and drive back home.
After taking the elevator down to Level 2, I walked what felt like a mile to the door we entered to get into the airport’s central area. After passing several ticket machines, I stopped at one to pay my parking fee.
I put my card into the slot, but the machine immediately spat it right back out. It baffled me. Scratching my head, I turned the card another way and put it back in the slot, but it did the same thing. I knew it was futile, but I kept putting the card into the slot, yet it kept spitting it back out. HUH?
Remembering what the Lufthansa courtesy driver said, I pressed the button at the top of the ticket machine to get customer service. After a few seconds, I heard a man’s voice speaking German to me. Of course, I couldn’t understand what he was saying, because he spoke so fast. So I just stood there looking at that machine like it had turned into something very evil.
Many people passed me as I stood in front of that machine. I felt stuck with my language barrier and didn’t have a clue about what to do next. Almost at once, a couple with a young boy about two years old came up behind me. The young lady spoke to me in German and asked me if I was having problems. I understood her and told her that the machine wouldn’t take my card. She asked me for it and then put it in the slot. And again, the machine spat it right back out! She didn’t speak English that well, but I understood her when she told me that after she paid for her parking that she would ask her husband to help me.
After she put her card in the slot, her fee flashed on the machine’s screen. Then her young husband used his credit card to pay the fee. The machine released their card from the slot after they paid it in full. Immediately, her husband turned towards me and asked me in perfect English for my card. He put it into the machine’s slot, but the machine spat it right back out again!! He looked as confused as I was.
So he pressed a button near the top of the machine to speak to customer service. A man’s voice came on and asked him in German what the problem was. He told the man that the machine wouldn’t accept my card and that it kept spitting it out. The customer service man asked him for some numbers printed on my card. After doing that, the customer service man said something again to the husband in German. Then the young husband told me that my parking fee would pop up on the screen and that after I paid it, the machine would give me a new card. After a few seconds, 5.00 Euros popped up on the machine’s screen. At least I had that much. LOL
After I paid my fee into the machine, I received a new parking card from the machine’s slot. By this time, I felt like a kid who had received another early Christmas present.
Suddenly, I had an eerie feeling that someone was staring at me. I looked down and saw that it was the couple’s son, a beautiful little brown-eyed boy dressed in winter clothing and snow boots. Topping off his outfit was a cute hat with earflaps. I gave him a short wave and smiled at him as I did. Without hesitation, he smiled back at me, dimples and all! It was at this point that this aggravating morning turned out to be a magical one after all.
SAVED AGAIN BY A WONDERFUL FAMILY.
About 60 or more parking ticket machines line one wall of the airport’s Level-2 lengthy corridor. Like I said, many people passed me that morning. But what are the odds of this particular family stopping at the same machine where I was to help me? How strange that this chance encounter happened at this precise time? I believe God sent this family to me when I needed help. To top it all off, this couple’s beautiful little boy smiled at me. Nothing like a child’s smile to warm my heart.
So call me crazy or whatever. But I think that this family was my pre-Christmas blessing. In my heart, I believe that this family was indeed a modern-day Jesus, Mary, and little Joseph in disguise.