What are the odds of strange things happening at any given time? Something out of the ordinary happened to me today. Was it 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, of course, German restaurants. Unfortunately, all our fun came to a crashing halt when it was time for her to return to the USA.
This morning, I drove her to the Frankfurt International Airport, which is astoundingly huge. After getting my parking card, I found a spot which 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 airport’s long corridor on Level 2. Finally, we reached the double doors, which allowed us entry into the main area of the airport for arrivals, departures, buying tickets, etc. 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 long distances. She had her walking cane with her, but I regretted that I forgot mine in my car. Since she requested special assistance 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 without any 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 card 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 card in my left coat pocket. So I reached in to get it, but I 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 card. I thought I might have dropped it somewhere on the floor on the ride to the security check-in area. That’s when I started to panic.
I told the driver that I couldn’t find my parking card. She looked a bit worried. Without me asking, she said she would backtrack the route we took to the security check-in area to see if I might have dropped it somewhere on the airport floor. I scanned the floor as she drove but didn’t see my card. So she took me 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 card. No such luck. When she returned to the car and said she didn’t find it, I was heartbroken.
But the driver calmed me down a bit by telling me not to worry. She told me to go to any of the parking card machines located 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 card, 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 card 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. Astonishingly, there on the floor behind her seat was my card! How it got there? I don’t know.
I almost jumped for joy as I pointed to my card on the floor behind her seat. Both of us were elated. She was as happy as I was about this little unexpected miracle.
I picked the card 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 came in to get into the airport’s main area. After passing several card machines, I stopped at one to pay my parking fee.
I put my card into the slot, but the machine immediately spat my card right back out. 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. I was puzzled.
Remembering what the Lufthansa courtesy driver said, I pressed the button at the top of the card machine to get customer service assistance. 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. Not one person stopped to help me. I felt so alone and stuck in the mud of my language barrier. I didn’t have a clue about what to do next. Seconds later, a young couple with a little 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 then asked me for my card. She 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 card that she would ask her husband to help me.
After she put her parking 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 it was paid in full. Immediately, her young husband turned towards me and asked me in perfect English for my card. He put my card 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 the machine 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 young 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 fed my 5.00 Euros to the machine, I received a new parking card from the machine’s slot. By this time, I felt like a kid who had received an early Christmas present.
Suddenly, I had an eerie feeling that someone was staring at me. I looked down, and it was the couple’s son, a beautiful little brown-eyed boy dressed in stylish winter clothing and snow boots. A cute hat with earflaps and topped off his outfit. I gave him a little 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 card machines line one wall of the airport’s Level-2 lengthy corridor. Like I said, many people passed me that morning. What are the odds of this particular family stopping to help me at the same machine where I was? Why did this happen at this precise time? I believe God sent this young family to me when I needed help. To top it all off, this young 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 present. I believe that this young family was, indeed, a modern-day Jesus, Mary, and little Joseph in disguise.
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