I’ll never meet you, you’ll never meet me. Even if we did meet, the chances of us knowing we share a moment in time are not in our favor. You ‘paid forward’ a little gesture that created a lifetime memory for four people. Early on Wednesday, May 16th, 2012, you happened across two travel weary college students in the Orlando International Airport while exiting the plane. The kids had just spent the last dozen or so hours flying the red-eye from Portland, Oregon to Orlando, in order to visit with my husband and I. You simply handed them two small scraps of cardstock, explaining to them that they were passes to DisneyWorld, insisted they made sure to use them, and continued on your day.

Well, I wish I could express the gratitude the four of us feel for what you did. My husband and I already had resident passes, and we all knew ahead of time that DisneyWorld was not really in the cards for the kids this trip. Theme park prices have increased since my day (back when your parents/grandparents or anyone else electing not to go on rides could pass those gates for free & simply observe!) For those who don’t know, a day trip to any of the major Orlando parks will set you back about $100 – one park, one day. To make matters worse, all the big players have now split their parks into individual mini-parks, so count on adding more money for each additional park, day, food, line passing, and any other way they can think of to make more money off you So, needless to say, the Wonderful World of Disney (split into four separate parks here in Orlando), was off our list.

Not sure if the flimsy cards my nephew held in his hand were real, he showed them to me. I read the back – one day park hoppers, worth about $120 each. Nice score! Two days later, we headed to the turnstiles of Disney’s Hollywood Studios with a little trepidation, but once the kids were through the gate, they didn’t stop until we closed down Epcot later that evening. They managed to get in 3 of the 4 Disney parks that day, and had an amazing time.

So, kind sir, the chances of you ever reading this are lottery-winning slim, but hopefully it’s a lesson to others what a small gesture can mean to someone else. (Note: I’m in no way implying $240 worth of tickets is a “small” gesture, but in this case I imagine they were extra or leftover tickets you could not use) In any event, you added an unforgettable experience to two very grateful young adults, as well as their Aunt & Uncle. Thank you!