He was willing to sit through six exhausting flights if it meant being close to his little girl during Christmas. What would dads not to do make their daughters happy?
Christmas is widely accepted as a time to be with your family and celebrate with your loved ones. While everyone deserves an enjoyable break from the stress of their everyday lives, people in certain professions have to make sacrifices for others, like doctors, nurses, hospital personnel, firefighters, first responders, police, military officers, flight attendants, and others. These people work in essential services and do not get the luxury of being with their families on holidays. It sucks, but it’s what has to be done. Somebody has to make the sacrifices.
In December 2018, Delta Air flight attendant, Pierce Vaughan was scheduled to work on Christmas day and the day after. She was also booked to work on six flights each day. How much tighter could a schedule get?
Hal Vaughan, Peirce’s dad wasn’t going to let her be without any family on Christmas day. In an incredible gesture of true fatherly love, the elderly man booked a seat on every one of Pierce’s flights so he could be with her. [1] If sitting through one flight is difficult, imagine what six in a row would feel like. Mr. Vaughan didn’t care. He’s not as young and strong as he used to be, but nothing was going to keep him from being with his baby girl.
He pulled out his savings and sat on planes while he traveled across the United States all through the holidays, but it was worth it. For Pierce, he would go through all that again.
Pierce and Hal melted millions of hearts
The heartwarming story was shared by Mike Levy, a passenger who was on a first-class trip from Fort Myers, Florida, to Detroit, Michigan. He struck up a conversation with Hal and was shocked to find out why the man was flying to Detroit. Detroit hadn’t been his destination. He was right where he needed to be, on that plane with his daughter.
Levy got a selfie with Hal and took a photo of Pierce. With their permission, he uploaded their story onto Facebook and it went viral in a few days. Thousands of people were awestruck by the love between the caring father and his daughter.
“I had the pleasure of sitting next to Hal on my flight back home,” Levy captioned his post. “His daughter Pierce was our flight attendant who had to work over Christmas. Hal decided he would spend the holiday with her. So, he is flying on each of her flights today and tomorrow around the country to spend time with his daughter for Christmas. What a fantastic father! Wish you both a very Merry Christmas!”
According to Levy, Hal was still recovering from a serious injury he sustained when he fell from a tree earlier that year. It couldn’t have been easy for him to stand so long at the airports and shuffle through lines.
“He is still recovering from a neck injury from earlier in the year, which had left him quadriplegic for a period,” Levy wrote. “This was his first trip since the accident. I was amazed and thought he was such a phenomenal father for going well out of his way to be with his daughter.”
In the spirit of the season
In a later interview with the New York Times, Hal explained why he couldn’t let his daughter spend the holidays by herself. [2] “I just felt terrible thinking about her spending her first Christmas alone, even though she’s 25.” Pierce may be all grown up and independent, but she’s still his little girl.
Pierce was excited at how viral their story had gone so quickly. She shared Levy’s post with the caption: “Dad’s first trip using his benefits was a success! A special thanks to all of the patient, wonderful gate agents around the country and my perfect crew. He made it on every flight and even got first class RSW-DTW (Christmas miracle). [Shout-out] to Mike Levy for being a great first-class passenger & helping us to understand how cool this actually is!”
Everyone deserves to be surrounded by their loved ones in this season of love and family. There’s so much to be learned from this amazing story. Hal was willing to move mountains to be with his daughter who couldn’t leave her work.
You too can do it for someone you love.
Photos Mike Levy / Facebook
References
- “ Dad books flights to spend Christmas with flight attendant daughter.“CNN. Gianluca Mezzofiore. December 27, 2018.
- “6 Flights in 3 Days: A Flight Attendant’s Dad Finds a Way to See Her on Christmas.” The New York Times. Christina Caron. December 27, 2018
- Mike Levy. Facebook. Retrieved December 17, 2019.