I attended a university in the USA, several hours from home.

In the spring of my sophomore year, my maternal grandmother passed away (more on that later).

In the fall of my junior year, I studied abroad in Spain.

I want to share the true story of a miracle I received in December 2007, while I was abroad.

I wrote an account of the event right after it happened.

After sharing that account, I’ll share my recent reflections.

It’s a Christmas Miracle!

After four months in Europe, it was time to return home to the United States.

I was glad I spent the semester abroad, but I was definitely ready to go home and take a long, hot shower and properly shave my legs [there was limited hot water in my apartment so I usually had to take cool showers].

I called a taxi service the day before to reserve a taxi to take me to the airport. I was set to get picked up in the plaza next to my building at 8 am.

One of the perks of having a male roommate was that he could help me carry my fifty-pound suitcases.

I woke up that morning excited for my trip home, despite that I would have to sit in the last row of the plane and have a longer trip than necessary [I booked my flights with a layover in Germany, but I thought they were going to be in France].

I got ready to leave and knocked on my roommate’s door. “Anzo, [names changed for privacy] I’m ready to leave.” No response. I knocked again. “Remember you said you were going to help with my bags? Are you there?” No response. I assumed he was either passed out from drinking the night before or still wasn’t back from the night before.

Luckily, my other roommate Tina offered to help with my bags. The good news was I didn’t have to carry my bags alone. The bad news was Tina was even smaller than I am [I am approximately five feet two inches tall].

Tina and I made the journey to the plaza and waited for the taxi. Ten minutes went by and there was still no sign of it.

I called the company and asked where it was and the operator replied, “Lo siento. Voy a enviar a uno en cinco minutos.”

I told Tina she should leave and go back to sleep since the taxi would be there soon. I thanked her for her help, said goodbye and continued to wait.

Thirty minutes later a taxi pulls up next to me. The driver said, “Hola. ¿Eres la niña de ir al aeropuerto?” “Si, gracias.” The man helped me stuff my bags in the trunk and we were on our way.

Thankfully, this was the last terrifying taxi ride I would have to take in Europe for a long time. Aside from driving at least one hundred miles per hour, the driver had the worst road rage I have ever seen.

He kept yelling out obscenities and random phrases the entire ride. It wasn’t clear whether he was talking to me or not, but I decided it would be best to pretend I couldn’t understand him. I heard him scream for the entirety of the trip.

Once we arrived at the airport I got out of the cab as fast as humanly possible and ran into the airport. I felt so relieved and couldn’t wait to go home.

I ran into five girls I knew from my university who were also on my flight back to New York. It was nice to see some friendly faces and know I wouldn’t be alone on this flight.

I looked up at the board with all of the flight information and saw the last word anyone wants to see in an airport: DELAYED.

As we waited on line at the ticket counter we heard the announcement, “Those on flight 221 from Bilbao to JFK, your flight to Frankfurt is delayed which means you will miss your connecting flight to New York. We are sorry for the inconvenience. We will get you on the first flight out tomorrow morning.”

Even though I spent the last four months in a place where I wasn’t taken seriously because I was a twenty-year-old American, I was not about to sit back and hang out in the airport until the next day.

As soon as the announcement was over I ran straight to the customer service booth and was first in line.

“Excuse me.” I said trying to get the attendant’s attention. She said, “How can I help you?” “Hi, yes. I am here with five girls and we were scheduled to take flight 221. I know you said there is a delay and we would have to wait until tomorrow, but we can’t. We have been here for a long time and have to get home. Christmas Eve is tomorrow and we want to spend it at home with our families, not in the airport in a foreign country. Isn’t there something you can do to avoid having six American girls upset and crying in the airport?”

“I’m so sorry, Miss. Because of the holiday most of our flights are booked so I don’t think there is any way for you to fly today. I will look on the system though and see if there is anything I can do.” “Thanks,” I said, “I’ll wait right here.” 

As I turned around to tell the other girls I was working on it, I saw that a line had formed behind me of about fifty people; all looking like they wanted to strangle me.

Some woman yelled something in German, while a man was rambling and shaking his finger at me. There was so much Christmas cheer all around us…

The attendant said she couldn’t find anything on their flights, but she was going to look on one of their affiliate carriers.

About forty minutes later, the attendant said the most amazing three words, “I found something.”

“Really, what is it?!” I asked excitedly. “This is pretty unbelievable, but I found six open seats on a flight to JFK with a transfer in Paris. The seats are all in first class.”

“First class? That’s really great, but I’m pretty sure none of us can afford to pay for those tickets.” I said.

“You wouldn’t have to pay anything. We will comp you the tickets because of the problem with your original flight. The only thing is the flight is boarding now so you would have to go now,” said the attendant, who I’m pretty convinced was some kind of angel.

“Thank you so so much! Feliz Navidad!” I said. “Girls, let’s go! We have six first class seats waiting for us!” 

We ran to the ticket window and went to the front of the line so we could check our bags. We were then escorted to the gate where we found our first class seats.

This was pretty amazing considering the flight had the exact number of seats we needed, they were in first class, and we didn’t have to pay a dime.

When we arrived in Paris we were again escorted through customs to get our passports and visas checked. We were taken by car to customs and then to the plane. “I could definitely get used to this,” one of the girls said, and all of us agreed.

We all called our families to let them know about the change in our flight.

“Mom, my flight got messed up. I will be on flight 323 on a different airline. I should land around the same time as the other flight.” “What? OK, you’ll have to tell me what happened later. At least you didn’t have to go to Germany this time. Have a safe flight. Love you” replied my Mom.

For our seven-hour flight we were offered three meals: an appetizer, entree and dessert. The choices for each meal were duck, duck and more duck, with a side of cheese and bread. We each had our own comfy chair with a recliner and personal TV.

I couldn’t get over how I managed to go from flying in the last seat of the plane to being treated like royalty in first class.

Looks like I had a lay-over in France after-all…

When we landed in New York, I ran to my parents and gave them each a hug.

I explained what happened and my Dad said, “It’s a Christmas miracle!”

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My Reflections

Prayer Is Outside of Time 

During the majority of my college years, I didn’t practice my Catholic Faith.

I didn’t attend Mass, and I probably didn’t pray.

I lived for myself and fell into sin.

The photo above is a church in the city where I studied abroad. It was walking distance from my apartment, and I don’t think I ever went inside!

That day in the airport, I don’t remember if I prayed. If I did, it would have been a quick prayer for help.

After my reversion in my late-20s, I started to pray a lot.

I learned that God and our prayers are outside of time. Therefore, our prayers are used for the past, present and future.

Even though I probably didn’t pray in the airport that day, it’s possible that my future prayers (and the prayers offered for me by others) led to the miracle.

Remember the power of prayer.

God Cares for His Children

Even though I ignored and betrayed God during most of my college years, He didn’t ignore or betray me.

He could have left me stranded in the airport that day. In my opinion, that’s what I deserved.

Instead, He cared for me and the girls I was with.

He blessed us with first class tickets and treated us like royalty.

I didn’t/couldn’t do anything to merit that.

In His infinite goodness and mercy, He cared for me.

Remember that God desires to lavish His children with love and gifts.

God Is in the Details

My maternal grandmother (Grams) was named Rosanne and her nickname was Honey.

She passed away on March 23, 2007 after a very short battle with cancer.

It was a shocking and painful experience for my family, and I don’t think I ever properly processed it.

She was one of the most gentle and most generous people I have ever known.

Her birthday was June 23, and one of her children (my godmother) was also born on that date.

Grams was 70-years-old when she died, and she would have turned 90 this year!

Because of these events, the number 23 is meaningful to my Mom’s family.

The date I returned home was December 23.

The new flight number was 323, which symbolizes March 23.

I don’t know if I realized these connections then. It’s pretty amazing looking back and seeing them now.

Remember to look for God in the details.

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Also, remember to pray for and to the deceased. Since we can’t know where a person’s soul goes when their body dies, we must pray that they go to heaven. The souls in heaven and purgatory can intercede for us, and they want us to ask for assistance.

I don’t know if Grams interceded for me in the airport that day, but it’s possible that she did.

I’m grateful for the miracle I received that day, even if I didn’t fully recognize or appreciate it then.

DEO GRATIAS