One of the most exciting times in our lives is when we discover that we are about to have a child. From the moment that we get the news, our lives are never going to be the same. We begin planning from that time and in most cases, we go to the hospital, deliver the child and bring them home from the hospital with us. For some, however, a slightly different route is taken. That was the case with Rubin Swift.
When Rubin got the news about his newborn baby, it was in the way of being told that he was being granted custody of her. In order to get the newborn child, he had to travel over 2000 miles. He was thrilled to be taking the newborn baby home to be with him and his wife but an airline employee almost put an end to it temporarily.
Rubin and his wife adopted the little girl. It didn’t happen overnight, they had to go through a lot of different background checks and tests before they could be approved for adoption.
It ended up costing a lot of money but after the approval took place, they were thrilled to know that they were about to become parents.
They didn’t know if they would end up with a son or a daughter but they were willing to wait. When the agency called them and said a baby girl was waiting, they were thrilled.
The Swifts lived in Cleveland, Ohio and the baby was in Phoenix, Arizona. Rubin boarded a plane to go meet his little girl. Before doing so, he called the airline to make sure that the baby was able to travel on the flight home with him.
“I explained to the airline, I was going to fly back with her. They told me the policy was to make sure that I had some kind of documentation from the hospital saying she was clear to fly. I got all that.” – Rubin Swift.
After being assured that everything was fine, Rubin got on the plane and headed for Phoenix. He found his daughter with a nurse named Joy when he arrived at the hospital.
During the first four days after the little girl was born, Joy looked after her. She works with newborns on a daily basis but this baby seemed to have a special place in her heart.
She was excited when she met the baby’s father and said that the adoption was a wonderful thing. It wasn’t long before the nurse and the new father had formed a strong bond.
Rubin was prepared to stay with Joy and talk to her for a long time but it was time to go. He thanked her for watching his daughter and caring for her so kindly before leaving.
When Rubin arrived at the airport, he discovered that there was a problem.
The airline told him that his daughter could not get on the plane. According to the airline policy, babies had to be at least seven days old before they would be allowed to fly.
He told the airline employee that he had verified that she could fly before leaving but they wouldn’t listen.
Suddenly, Rubin found himself as a new father, stuck in a city that he didn’t know and not knowing what to do next.
That is when he remembered Joy.
He called the hospital to see if he could get her cell phone number and it took some convincing, but they finally gave it to him.
When he called Joy, he told her what was going on and the emotions started to take over. She said she was getting in her car and would be picking them up. True to her word, Joy arrived at the airport in about 10 minutes and said they would have a place to stay.
Joy really enjoyed having company for three days. She had already bonded with both of them, so the visit was very nice.
She was even sad to see them go but Rubin assured her that they would eventually come to visit again.
You can see more about this story in the following video:
H/T: Relieved