What is important in life?

The last to board the plane from Seattle to Dallas were a woman and three children.
"Oh, please don’t sit next to me," I thought. "I’ve got so much
work to so." But a moment later an eleven-year-old girl and her nine-year-old brother
were climbing over me while the woman  and afour-year-old boy sat behind. Almost
immediately the older children started bickering while the child behind intermittently
kicked my seat. Every few minutes the boy would ask his sister, "Where are we
now?" "Shut up!" she’d snap and a new round of squirming and whining
would ensue.

"Kids have no concept of important work," I thought, quietly resenting my
predicament. Then in my mind a voice as clear as a song simply said, love them.
"These kids are brats, and I’ve got important work to do," I countered to
myself. My inner voice simply replied, Love then as if they were your children.

Having heard the "where are we now?" question repeatedly, I turned to the
in-flight magazine map, in spite of my important work.

I explained our flight path, dividing it into quarter-hour flight increments and
estimated when we would land in Dallas. Soon they were telling me about their trip to
Seattle to see their  fatherwho was in the hospital. As we talked, they asked about
flying, navigation, science and grown-ups’ views about life. The time passed quickly
and my "important" work was left undone.

As we were preparing to land, I asked how their father was doing now. 

They grew quiet and the boy simply said, "He died."

"Oh, I’m so sorry."

"Yeah, me too. But it’s my little brother I’m most worried about.
He’s taking it real hard."

I suddenly realized what we’d really been talking about was the most important
work we ever face: living, loving and growing in spite of heartbreak. When we said
good-bye in Dallas the boy shook my hand and thanked me for being his "airline
teacher." And I thanked him for being mine.

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