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NEW YORK — Traveling with young children can be notoriously stressful, but thanks to a kind flight attendant, a New York baby's first flight was a happy one.
Heather Gooch and her husband were traveling back to New York from a Florida vacation last week and were anxious about how their 9-month-old son would do on his first flight, Today reports. But thanks to Southwest Airlines flight attendant Anissa Charles, what could have been a nightmare in the sky turned into the flight from heaven.
"I have never had a flight attendant as kind and as helpful as she was," Gooch wrote on the airline's Facebook page, hoping to reach Charles and give her the recognition she deserved.
That post quickly went viral, with over 59,000 shares and nearly 500,000 likes thus far.
According to Gooch, Charles made it a point to smile, play and interact with the baby. So much so, in fact, that her son spent the majority of the flight watching the aisle, jumping at any chance to flirt with his new friend.
"At one point, she saw that he was looking for her and getting antsy so she came and picked him up and walked up and down the aisle with him while my husband and I ate our lunch," Gooch wrote.
The adoration was mutual. Charles responded to Gooch's post, reassuring the mother that the pleasure was most certainly hers.
Dear Southwest, I'm hoping you can share this post so that I can be sure that it finds its way to a very special...
Posted by Heather Gooch on Tuesday, December 29, 2015
"He made MY day! I needed him more than he wanted me to hang out with," she wrote. "I don't mind being used by the babies."
Charles took to her Facebook page to address the experience, in which she insisted that her actions on the flight were really no big deal.
"I tell adults all the time on my flights, children are doing exactly what they are supposed to do… make noise!" she wrote. "I would honestly rather hear them make noise and even cry than to hear an adult whine! They have so much to talk about and mom and dad deserve a break!"
To the Gooch family, Charles's kindness was something extraordinary.
"Although this may not be a story that stands out from the rest, I wanted to thank her and let her know how appreciated she is," Gooch wrote. "We so often hear about the negative things going on so I wanted to share this story of someone who made my trip a little brighter."
