A couple flying their newly-adopted daughter home for the first time were touched to receive a stack of kindly messages written on napkins from the other airline passengers.
Dustin and Caren Moore spent nine years struggling with fertility before deciding to adopt eight-day-old Mackenzie.
Flight attendants asked the couple why they were traveling with a baby so young as they flew Mackenzie home from Colorado.
One of the attendants announced over the intercom that they would pass out napkins and pens for people to write any advice they had for the new parents.
Dustin, 35, a dietician and educator from Buena Park, California, said: “Typically, you ignore intercom chatter.
“But for them to be so personal and talk about our baby and everybody applaud and cheer, that just gave me chills.
“The old fashioned method for building our family wasn’t working out and we decided to look closer at adoption.”
Advice ranged from, “get a dog,” to, “don’t forget about date night” and “enjoy the time, it goes by very fast.”
Dustin added: “‘Sleep when your baby sleeps,’ was good advice and I don’t know if it would have hit my mind.
“People had written on napkins when a baby cries don’t take it personally, that’s their communication.”
Dustin’s favorite piece of advice was something very specific to his family’s situation.
“My favorite comment was one person who said ‘I was adopted 64 years ago by my loving mom and dad and us adopted kids need a little extra love, so thanks so much for taking this child into your home and making her a part of your family,’” he said.
“That one hit me on a really special level because we were really nervous about being new parents and we did have that concern in the back of our heads that we don’t want people to give our kids trouble for being adopted.
“Hearing somebody offer that validation on that napkin was really special to me.”
Dustin and Caren were touched to receive such encouraging messages from complete strangers.
“We may never cross paths again, but they were all so kind and showed so much love in the messages they wrote,” Dustin said.
“I don’t know how to put into words what it meant to me because it was such a kind thing for all those people to do.”
After arriving home they decided to do something special with the napkins as a keepsake.
He added: “My mom went out and got a photo album, and she took pictures and the napkins and placed them in there as this story book adventure for Mackenzie for when she’s older.”
Now 17-months-old, Mackenzie has grown into an inquisitive and empathetic tot and Dustin is enjoying every minute of being her dad.
“I love it. There’s no better job in the world,” he said.
“At work I get to do a lot of fun stuff and I get to work with cool people, but nothing tops being a dad.”
The kind-hearted gesture happened on the flight home in November 2019.