Most of the time the news is full of sad stories, but occasionally, you’ll come across one that reminds us the world is still full of decent people.

Alexa Bjornson, a mother, was worried when sent her son alone on a plane to visit his father in Portland, Oregon. He’s autistic, and she was worried that he might bother the person sitting next to him, or worse, feel uncomfortable traveling by himself. To ensure that her son felt comfortable and safe, she sent him with a ten dollar bill and a letter to give to his seat mate, explaining the situation. 

What Alexa didn’t expect, was to receive a note back that would restore her faith in humanity. 

Alexa posted: 

“Today my son took his first flight to Oregon to see his dad. I sent Landon with a letter to give to whoever sat next to me saying he has high functioning autism so he might be nervous and ask you “are we there yet” a lot, and please just make him feel safe and comfortable, with 10 dollars in the note. And this is what I just received ❤❤❤I am so grateful to this individual, and that there are still kind people in the world who make a difference like I try myself to do as well. Thank you so much Ben!!!!”

The stranger beside her son turned out to be Ben. He wanted to make sure Alexa knew that her son was well taken care of during the flight. 

Ben posted:

Alexa,

My name is Ben. I was Landon’s seat neighbor for his flight to Portland. He did ask if we were there yet several times but he was a great travel buddy. We had a good time and played a few rounds of rock-paper-scissors. He’s a great kid and you’re a lucky mom.

I appreciate the ten dollars, but it wasn’t necessary. I donated it to Austin-Society.org in honor of Landon.

Have a great day!

While her son did ask Ben a few times if they had arrived yet, Ben was happy to accommodate him.

Alexa’s Facebook post was immediately shared 13,000 times, making it go viral. 

People like a feel-good story that reminds up people are decent. Thank you Ben for making sure Alexa’s son had a safe and happy flight to meet his dad.

While most people were incredibly supportive of Alexa’s son’s solo flight, there were a lot of people who thought it was irresponsible of Alexa to send her autistic son flying on his own.

However, given that we don’t know the circumstances, it might be prudent to save the judgement.