Long Island Mom's Facebook Thank-You To Flight Attendant Who Calmed Fussy Baby Goes Viral
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- A Long Island mom and dad are grateful for the kindness of a Southwest Airlines flight attendant.
They say her sky-high efforts to calm their baby made for a smooth flight, and her gesture is spreading on social media.
Nine-month-old Aiden has a tough time staying still. Add the chaos of holiday travel, and he started melting down on a recent flight from Florida back to New York, CBS2's Janet Wu reported.
"My worst nightmare was coming true," Aiden's mom, Heather Gooch, said with a laugh.
As the baby's parents were starting to panic on the crowded plane, a flight attendant came over, saw the situation, picked up Aiden and was immediately able to calm him down.
"She was rocking him," Heather Gooch said.
CBS2 reached the flight attendant, Anissa Charles, by phone in Florida. She gushed about the encounter.
"He was easy to love, to be honest with you," she said.
"And he loved her," said the baby's dad, Danny Gooch. "He adored her."
Charles has been with Southwest for just over a decade. She not only soothed the baby, she gave Mom and Dad a break.
"It was a moment of peace," the father said. "We had time to enjoy our lunch, have a little quiet time, and we enjoyed watching him going up and down the aisle saying hi to everybody."
In the rush, the young couple missed Anissa's name and the chance to say goodbye.
Heather Gooch tried calling Southwest, then posted a message on Facebook. It went viral, generating, as of Thursday evening, more than 382,000 likes and more than 7,000 comments praising Anissa and other thoughtful flight attendants.
"A friend tagged me on Facebook and said, 'Hey, is this you?', and I was like, 'Oh my God, it is me!'" Charles said.
"I realize it's something so small, but it meant so much to me," Heather Gooch said.
Aiden and Charles are now connected -- a fussy baby and an act of kindness, leading to a lifelong friendship.
