It’s not that hard to catch holiday doldrums. All it takes most days is getting stuck in line at a store or finding that the one thing you want to buy someone is sold out. And if you have real problems in your life, well, the holidays can be an absolute mess.
So it’s nice to know that there are good, decent spirit lifters out there — and lots of them. If this scene caught on video at Nashville’s airport doesn’t convince you of that, nothing will.
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Travelers passing through Nashville International Airport were recently swept up in a spontaneous outpouring of support and patriotism, and it was caught on a video that’s going viral.
Usually at this time of year, folks at the airport are either elbows-out aggravated or too tired to bother taking off their neck pillows. But, inspired by one particular group of travelers, the passengers in Nashville set aside their weariness and crankiness to create a pretty beautiful scene.
As a group of children lined up to board their flight, an announcement went out over the loud speaker that tipped off the crowd about why they were flying.
The kids had all lost a parent in combat and were being treated to an all-expenses-paid trip to Disneyworld. When the other travelers realized what was happening, they spontaneously broke into the national anthem.
Jen Tringale caught the incredibly touching moment on video and posted it on Facebook.
“Most every person standing around, myself included was bawling at the sight of these kids and spouses who have paid so great a price for our country,” she wrote . “To see all of this at Christmas time was so humbling. Seeing the general public in an airport stand still to honor these kids was simply beautiful.”
Turns out the kids’ trip had been arranged and funded by the Gary Sinise Foundation’s Snowball Express Program.
The program sponsors Gold Star families for a “therapeutic retreat” that “will offer fun and inspiring programs, encouraging critical peer-to-peer support for these families.” In all, Snowball Express sent 1,722 kids and their surviving parents or guardians on a five-day trip this year.
Check out the full video below!
