When we arrived at the Paris train station, the Chunnel was closed because of a bomb scare and resulting security problems. Hundreds of people waited in line. When security finally allowed people to proceed, passengers had to carry their luggage up over one hundred nonmoving escalator stairs. There was no way my husband Richard and I could get our luggage up those stairs. If we were going to leave Paris by Chunnel with our luggage, we would have to find a miracle.
Suddenly and unasked, a young woman selflessly helped Richard while a very tall man behind me on the escalator grabbed my suitcase with one hand and carried it to the top. I hugged him so tightly that he looked in shock at my gesture of gratitude. At the top, the young woman smiled and asked me “Don’t you believe in angels?” A traveling nightmare became a moment where the kindness of strangers defined our vacation. Laughingly, I told Richard that I also believed this moment officially acknowledged us as seniors. // Elynne Chaplik-Aleskow
