My 5-year-old son got lost while waiting for our flight. Panicked, I called his dad, who hurried over to assist find him. A 30-year-old lady discovered him at the airport two hours later. My kid turned and remarked, “Dad knew her!” twenty years later as I told a friend about this lovely stranger. I froze when he said, “I wasn’t lost that day. Dad took me, and she…

I was sucked back into that airport by the recollection. Calling his name over baggage and boarding announcements, my hands shaking and heart racing. My throat was sore from shouting as I kneeled to search under rows of chairs and ran into bathroom after lavatory. Airport security joined in, but every second felt like an hour.