This is an awesome story

This is an awesome story…

Oct 05, 2008

The Norwegian newspaper VG has reported a truly amazing story about a
newly-wed trying to get to Norway to be with her husband, and the stranger
who helped pay an unexpected luggage surcharge. The blog ‘Leisha’s Random
Thoughts’ has translated the story.

It was 1988, and Mary Andersen was at the Miami airport checking in for a
long flight to Norway to be with her husband when the airline representative
informed her that she wouldn’t be able to check her luggage without paying a
100 surcharge:

When it was finally Mary’s turn, she got the message that would crush her
bubbling feeling of happiness.

-You’ll have to pay a 103 dollar surcharge if you want to bring both those
suitcases to Norway , the man behind the counter said.

Mary had no money. Her new husband had travelled ahead of her to Norway ,
and she had no one else to call.

-I was completely desperate and tried to think which of my things I could
manage without. But I had already made such a careful selection of my most
prized possessions, says Mary.

As tears streamed down her face, she heard a ‘gentle and friendly voice’
behind her saying, ‘That’s okay, I’ll pay for her.’

Mary turned around to see a tall man whom she had never seen before.

-He had a gentle and kind voice that was still firm and decisive. The first
thing I thought was, Who is this man?

Although this happened 20 years ago, Mary still remembers the authority that
radiated from the man.

-He was nicely dressed, fashionably dressed with brown leather shoes, a
cotton shirt open at the throat and khaki pants, says Mary.

She was thrilled to be able to bring both her suitcases to Norway and
assured the stranger that he would get his money back. The man wrote his
name and address on a piece of paper that he gave to Mary. She thanked him
repeatedly. When she finally walked off towards the security checkpoint, he
waved goodbye to her.

Who was the man?

Barack Obama.

Twenty years later, she is thrilled that the friendly stranger at the
airport may be the next President and has voted for him already and donated
100 dollars to his campaign:

-He was my knight in shining armor, says Mary, smiling.

She paid the 103 dollars back to Obama the day after she arrived in Norway .
At that time he had just finished his job as a poorly paid community worker*
in Chicago , and had started his law studies at prestigious Harvard
university.

Mary even convinced her parents to vote for him:

In the spring of 2006 Mary’s parents had heard that Obama was considering a
run for president, but that he had still not decided. They chose to write a
letter in which they told him that he would receive their votes. At the same
time, they thanked Obama for helping their daughter 18 years earlier.

And Obama replied:

In a letter to Mary’s parents dated May 4th, 2006 and stamped ‘ United
States Senate,

Washington DC’, Barack Obama writes:

‘I want to thank you for the lovely things you wrote about me and for
reminding me

of what happened at Miami airport. I’m happy I could help back then,
and I’m delighted

to hear that your daughter is happy in Norway . Please send her my
best wishes.

Sincerely, Barack Obama , United States Senator’.

The parents sent the letter on to Mary.

Mary says that when her friends and associates talk about the
election, especially when

race relations is the heated subject, she relates the story of the k
ind man who helped out a

stranger-in-need over twenty years ago, years before he had even
thought about running for

high office.

Truly a wonderful story, and something that needs to be passed along in the
maelstorm of fear-and-smear politics we are being subjected to right now.