Airport goodbyes are never easy, but some cut a little deeper than others. Here are some true tales of people who said goodbye at airports, but be warned: there are some real tearjerkers on this list. It may seem like a typical scenario – one person going off on a journey, while the other is left behind – but the goodbye can make even the toughest of people weep with sorrow. These stories were recounted by people who thought they had seen it all, but weren't prepared for the emotional weight of these separations.
Bye Bye, Baby Bye Bye
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I flew a private jet to San Francisco to pick up a 5 year old girl and her mother. The girl had a brain tumor and was in San Francisco for a last ditch effort to be cured. Unfortunately, the treatment had not been effective, and the plane ride had been donated to bring her back home to die. I don't remember why the father stayed in California, but watching him say goodbye to his daughter broke my heart. At the time, my wife was close to her delivery date of our first baby, and this really tore me up inside.
Story credit : Reddit / [deleted]
The Final Goodbye
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I worked at a very small regional airport so I dealt with passengers from check-in to boarding. Often the passengers and their families would stay together all the way up until boarding.An elderly gentleman was dropping off his son who had flown in from overseas where he lived for a visit. It was just us three in the terminal at the time, and after check-in the dad looked at his son and said "I have to go before I lose it" and he hugged his son, shook his hand and left. His son stood looking out the window to the tarmac and I could see he was getting a little upset. It was just us, so I walked over and asked if he was okay, he starts crying and says "this is probably the last time I am going to see my dad". He then tells me his dad is terminally ill with cancer and he has to return to his job overseas. All I could do was hug the guy and cry with him, it was very upsetting to me even as a stranger.
Story credit : Reddit / GrandmasTableMints
Welcome to the Family
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I saw a family of three ( mom, dad, teenage son) saying goodbye to another younger guy they had hosted at their house for an exchange program or something. The mom was crying and saying that he was part of the family and to visit whenever he wanted. The guy leaving looked pretty torn up but the dad and the teenage son looked pretty stoic. As the exchange student was leaving he said goodbye to each of them by hugging them and calling them mom, dad, and brother. The dad and teenage son literally burst into tears and starting sobbing really loudly. It was really sweet but really sad.
Story credit : Reddit / Aklinadz
A Moment of Silence
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The saddest goodbye was actually saying goodbye for the final time to one of my friends. He had worked for multiple airlines in the airport and was well liked by everyone. He died suddenly in his sleep and it devastated everyone in our small airport family. His family wanted to bury him in his home town so we had to ship his body away. Basically the whole airport had stopped operating while his friends loaded his body onto the aircraft taking him home. The whole ceremony performed was very emotional but I'm glad he got to take to the air even after death.
Story credit : Reddit / redlegsfan21
Broken Home
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Worked as an airport employee for a while. One of my duties was to accompany minors who were flying alone. Well there was this tiny boy, ten at the time, that I had to meet after his check-in. His mom checked him in, she saw me waiting, then she said, "Can you give me a few minutes to say goodbye?" I said sure, stepped aside, then she knelt so she can look the boy in the eye. She brought him to me after a few minutes so I walked with the boy towards the gate. He looked sad, so I made small talk and told him where he was going and if he were meeting someone where he's going.
Apparently his parents are separated and his mom is sending him to his dad because she can't afford to feed him adequately and send him to school. She also can't afford a round-trip plane ticket to go with him which is why the kid's flying alone. He said he's never going to see his mom again, because he's sure his dad won't allow him to.
As a child of a bad divorce myself, his story broke my heart.
Story credit : Reddit / suspicious_gay
The Veteran
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Used to be a wheelchair attendant for an international airport.
I was assisting the gentleman get the wheelchair and his wife was explaining to him it would only be for a few weeks and that everything would be ok. The man starts crying, saying he doesn't want to to be far away and he's concerned about his visit back home. She consoled him and asked me to make sure he got to the gate ok. I gave my word AI would. So as we're going through Security I begin talking to him and I found out why he was so upset.
This guy was a Scottish World War 2 veteran and he was going back home for the first time since leaving after returning from the war. He began to tell me his life story, how he lost his older and younger brother during Dunkirk because the British army required the Scottish military members to hold back the Nazis while the British troops escaped. He told me how he got injured in combat and was treated by an American medic that later became his wife. He told me of his jobs after the war, about his children, about his grandchildren and how he has a great grandchild on the way.
He then told me about why he's going back home after all this time in America. It was because he had cancer that likely will be untreatable and he wanted to stay in his home village and try to get medical treatment there until the end. However his wife had to work another week or so and wouldn't be in the country and he was upset because he didn't want to pass away with her not by his side. I had to hide my tears after that one. After hearing all that, I perfectly understood why he was getting emotional.
His flight wasn't taking off for a few hours after I dropped him off so that day I checked up on him every hour, had lunch with him and eventually other people started hanging out with him when they noticed he was alone and he began smiling and laughing with them. But just thinking about him gets me teary eyed.
Story credit : Reddit / TheRampantWriter
A Parent's Worst Nightmare
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I worked at Barcelona airport for a few years, and the saddest moment was also a goodbye moment. A couple with a baby of 2 came to Barcelona to visit the family of hers (she was spanish, he was british). It broke my heart when we at the sales desk realised there was a "Jim Wilson" who requested Special Asistance was on the flight. "Jim Wilson" is airline carrier code for a corpse being transported back home. So yes, the dead body was the baby of 2 who apparently collapsed for reasons I don't know, and now was being sent back to England.
There was literally 30 people, all family of hers in the airport, saying goodbye to the little coffin. I never saw a most lost person that the mother and the grandmother. It was shocking, many of our cooworkers had to take a break for several minutes as they could not stop crying.
Now I'm a father of a 9 month babygirl...and I'm just crying remembering this.
I hope that family found a way to deal with the pain.
Story credit : Reddit / korddac
Temporary Momma's Boy
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I was dropping off my long distance BF at the time and thought I was sad until I saw this other goodbye. It looked like an exchange student was saying goodbye to his exchange family. I eavesdropped a bit and heard him tell the mom that he is really grateful that they housed him and gave him this great opportunity to study in the states. The mom grabbed him and just hugged he crap out of him while crying. I just felt so sad for them. It looked like he had really made a place for himself in their family and it was as if the mom was saying goodby to, not just one of her own kids, but to one that she would most likely never see again. I hope they at least stayed in contact with one another!
Story credit : Reddit / earthwormcalypso
Gut Punch
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I work at an international Airport in Germany. I was checking in an older lady who told me she has cancer and she is going to morrocco to get cannabis oil because that is supposed to help support the chemo therapy she is doing.
Two weeks later a young girl was at the airport demanding a ticket to morrocco crying her eyes out. Was like a punch in the gut :(
Story credit : Reddit / not-your-teacher
Good Boy
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A marine saying goodbye to his dog :(
Story credit : Reddit / Mrxcman92
Long Distance
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I'm in an international relationship.
I don't know how the employees felt about it, but there are a few employees who witnessed a 6'3" guy in all black, black cowboy boots with spikes on them, mirrored aviators and a tattered cowboy hat crying his eyes out at Gate 3 while saying goodbye to his Irish fiancee.
I even lost it when paying the person outside the parking garage once. It was this sweet, old lady. I was choking back tears, and she made the mistake of saying, "hey, are you okay?"
MASSIVE SOBS "I'm sorry, i'm engaged to a woman who lives in another country and this is just really hard"
Story credit : Reddit / spiderlanewales
Thank You For Your Service
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Whenever a fallen soldier comes home. And especially if that soldier had his or her trusty companion with them too. Seeing those caskets come out from the plane just punches you right in the gut.
Story credit : Reddit / [deleted]
But I Don't Wanna Go!
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A little kid was bawling his eyes out and clinging to his dad's leg to stop him from going. I think the kid was going to stay with some older relatives (maybe grandparents?).
Story credit : Reddit / Y_R_ALL_NAMES_TAKEN
One Way Trip
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When people were emigrating from my country during the recession many were saying goodbye to their grandparents.. For the last time. Very sad.
Story credit : Reddit / YouserName007
The Needs of the Many
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I'm in a long distance relationship (opposite sides of the US), and recently I brought my partner to the airport and was waiting to make sure he got through security (he has a history of doing things like accidentally throwing away his boarding pass and having to go through the whole line over again). I guess I looked sad and/or lost, and I sometimes get mistaken for a teenager when I'm dressed down, so employees kept asking me if I needed help. I politely brushed them off until finally explaining to one of the check-in agents who seemed extra worried that I was just making sure my guy got through security ok.
She lead me back to her counter where there was a window to the security line so I could flag him down once he got through and have one last goodbye through the glass. She even took pictures while we had a Kirk/Spock moment. So I just wanted to say thank you to the nice airline lady for being really sweet despite probably dealing with a lot of crap all day.
Story credit : Reddit / allthesebees
Unwanted
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Once I flew to Shanghai and an old man in a wheelchair was wheeled off my flight and there was a huge kerfuffle at the exit as no one had come to pick him up. Normally for wheelchair bound elderly people, airline employees hand over to a relative. This man had dementia and when they called his family in Australia (who put him on the plane) they said they couldn’t cope with him anymore. He had a slip of paper with the phone number of his other child in China who said they never agreed to look after him and didn’t want anything to do with him. So the airline called the police and in the end they said the old man would be taken to a homeless shelter to wait for a government sponsored nursing home.. I don’t know what happened to him but it was incredibly sad.
Story credit : Reddit / Mashdoofus
Not Meant To Be
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I had a really sad phone call that I had while I was working in an airline call center. The pilots of the airline that I worked for were on strike, and we were rebooking people onto other flights the best we could, and refunding them if we couldn't.
My caller sounded like an older man, and he mentioned that he was traveling to the USA from Canada for an experimental cancer treatment. He lived in a smaller city, and there was only one other airline that had flights from his city. That airline's pilots also went on strike.
I stayed on the phone with him for a long time and tried my best to find any way of getting him where he needed to go, but I couldn't find a way to get him there in time. He thanked me for trying so hard to help him, and calmly said that he guessed it just wasn't meant to be for him. I ended up processing a refund for him. That call hit me way harder than any of the irate passengers who yelled at me for ruining their vacations.
Story credit : Reddit / finnknit
Ex Marks the Spot
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An agreement between me and my ex had me sending our dog to them, all the way across the country. The dog that had been my only companion when said ex moved away, who we'd raised together from a puppy, and I was sending away my only companion, a long, long ways away, by herself, on a flight to California. As if the 45-minute drive to the airport wasn't hard enough with her in the back seat, in her carrier, whimpering and fussing because we were in the car at all, by the time they brought the cart out to put her extra large carrier onto it, I was losing it all.
I choke up thinking about it, and it's been a little over a year. I hadn't cried that hard in a long time, seeing them taking her away, and it lasted a long, long time. I still choke up badly thinking about it. Let alone the drive "home" -- living on a friend's couch, preparing to move myself -- to come back to no dog to hold, to greet, to hang out with or feed or take outside or anything. Just me in the quiet.
I miss that dog quite a bit, and I know I can't get another one because of various reasons, so I think about her a ton. And every time I think of that trip to the airport I break down a little again.
Story credit : Reddit / pfoxeh
Tough But Worth It
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I don't know what people thought when they saw me crying my eyes out when I was saying goodbye to my beautiful sweet girlfriend at the airport and entering the gate for the plane. I couldn't stop crying and when I looked back for the last time and saw her sobbing I was close to send everything to hell and go back to her arms (but of course that would've meant violating my Visa by overstaying in the US and basically ruining my life). LDR are tough man but she's worth it
Story credit : Reddit / FeanorNoldor
A Happy Ending
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I was part of the sad goodbye.
I met my girlfriend online (in Guild Wars, long ago) and after a few months of online dating, we finally met for a 5 days city trip in Lisbon. It was awesome up until the moment we had to go home again. I bawled my eyes out for hours, and when I had to board my plane one of the flight attendants took me aside to ask me what was going on. Turns out the flight attendant had been in a long distance relationship as well, so they talked to me and were able to calm me down somewhat.
That was over three years ago. The distance is gone and we are now living together in my home country. Those sad goodbyes were absolutely worth it, even if they were gut wrenching. 5/7 would date my SO again.
Story credit : Reddit / zyygh
Farewell to a Friend
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We said goodbye to one of my best friends knowing we were probably not gonna see her again for a very long time. Her entire family plus a few friends kept a smile on our faces as we bid her goodbye and wished her luck. The second we were out of her sight we all started crying and hugging each other.
Story credit : Reddit / letibott
Crying Together
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The first time I left America to come home to Australia after meeting my now husband but then long distance boyfriend for the first time I thought I'd cry myself to death.
Luckily the plane middle seat was vacant and the middle age lady in the aisle seat was leaving family as well. We cried for the first like 6 hours together then got each other through the next 7.
Story credit : Reddit / SeahorseScorpio
In a Hurry
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Working one night, I passed by an elderly lady staring on cart disperser. I asked her if she needed change for a cart, she turns around and started crying telling me she had to fly down so fast she forgot to bring money with her. She flew home to pick-up her husband's body who suddenly passed away. Made me cry, gave her everything in my pocket and made sure baggage agents took care of her.
Story credit : Reddit / Spizer99
Now Boarding the Puke Plane
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I used to be in an long distance relationship. Every goodbye was a heartbreak, but the last one... I’ll never forget that. (It was also the most embarrassing thing that has happened to me yet)
We’ve been having some problems and I spent the summer with him. We both loved each other, and although we promised each other it wasn’t the last time we’d see each other, we both kind of knew it would be, and that turned out to be true. I don’t think I’ve ever cried this much. I actually felt so sick, that *I vomited into a trash can in front of everyone*. Definitely not my proudest moment. Going through security and leaving was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do.
We broke up a month later because we just couldn’t take the distance and the emotional rollercoaster every time anymore, and there were other problems as well
Story credit : Reddit / ponybeine
Emigrating Alone
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One time I was flying out of El Salvador to the States and I saw this big burly man and his daughter saying goodbye to each other. He was bawling his eyes out telling her to be a good girl. I think she was immigrating to the United States and he couldn’t go. It broke my heart.
Story credit : Reddit / chicoiswhite
Life's Too Short
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I used to work for a travel reward company (using credit card points to book travel) and one call was an older gentleman, high 70's, who was just LOADED in points. He was friendly and normal from the conversations we were having while I completed his bookings and I enjoyed the chat.
He told me he was going to use all his points that day which prompted me to ask the question "oh are we booking anyone else on this flight?" to which he responded "Oh yes darling! We are booking the whole family" Cool, how generous.
He then tells me that he is getting married to his girlfriend and flying the entire family out for the celebration. My heart melts. Then he tells me that it is a celebration of love and life and that he was recently diagnosed with a terminal cancer and is too old and too impatient to spend his days in the hospital so he is locking down his lady and getting all his kids and grand kids together for one last hoo-ra of his life.
I was silent in heartbreak. He then said to me that "life is too short for being sad for someone who has lived long and fulfilling life" like he did.
I hope he had an amazing send-off!
Story credit : Reddit / Vana_White
Ouch
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Recently I said goodbye to my grandparents and dog for the last time and it stung.
Story credit : Reddit / ChocolateBrownieCake
Family Feud
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I recently had to say goodbye to my dad. My parents are divorced and I only see my dad two weeks a year. We meet in Italy, because I am not allowed to visit his new home on Bali or visit him generally until im 18 years old. So yesterday I had to say goodbye knowing that I probably won't see my dad for 2 and a half years, because my mother cancelled my trip to Italy for next year. The thing is that I am legally allowed to visit my dad. I just have to visit my lawyer and I would be able to visit him. But that would mean that my mother would always hate me and so on. (She told me that that would be the consequence)
So saying goodbye to my dad was really hard.
Story credit : Reddit / PlutoTuer
Coming Home At Last
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Not an airline attendant or anything here. I live very close to our local airport. I live about 2 miles from it on the same road. I have finally gotten used to hearing the big ones come in. I had left the house one day to go to the grocery store and also pick up some togo mexican food for dinner. All of this is farther down the road from the airport but still on the same road. While on the way, I noticed a hearse followed by a bunch of cars so I pulled over to the side of the road and cut my car off because I live in the south and it is just a sign of respect to grieving family. Once it had passed, I went back on my way. I had finished shopping and went across the street to the mexican restaurant. As I was pulling in, I notice the same funeral procession coming by. So I get out of the car and notice dozens of cars lining the road with american flags. All of us are hanging our heads until it passes. This experience seemed a little odd to me for some reason.. especially the people lining the roads. I assumed maybe a serviceman had passed in the Middle East and was being transported home. I watched the news that night and was not too far off.
Apparently, a serviceman's bones from WW2 had been identified and he was from a small town nearby. They were finally bringing him home to rest. Broke my heart thinking that 60 years ago, his parents probably never knew what happened to him. I was glad I got to pay my respects to him for giving his life for all of us.
Story credit : Reddit / cntrygrlgotgame
Teenage Romance
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When I was younger (16) I had a girlfriend who I had been off and on with since middle school. Her dad had his job get moved to Florida and I went with her to the airport to say goodbye as she flew halfway down the country and I knew I’d never see her again.
Story credit : Reddit / _Namelessking
Life is Tough for the Working Man
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My grandfather worked at Heathrow and was called into work the day that his mother emigrated to Australia (she was then 73, I think). We'd planned a big send-off - all the family were at the gate - and he had to rush over at the last minute, say goodbye, and rush off again. Harsh. I was too little to realise quite how awful that was for him, but I remember him being very sad for months.
Story credit : Reddit / bopeepsheep
Cry-Bye
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Me and my mom was having a cry-bye when I was moving away when I was young. This is when people could walk to the gates still. But as I am leaving we hug one last time and of course we both start crying(yes I’m a mama’s boy) but as we are saying goodby a lady comes up to us and starts yelling at us. We just kept doing what we were doing. But later I think about it and she was mad that we were having a cry-bye and was saying we should not be doing that and to get it over with. She was so mad that me and my mom were acting like that in public. I never understood what happened. But the lady is also lucky my mom was focusing on me or the lady might have got more than she could handle. Good times.
Story credit : Reddit / eyedamage
Goodbye Mommy
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Most heathbreaking ever...Little girl of 3 years old ..that had to say goodbye to her mom who just died mid-flight.
The face off total innocent kid...They had to take her out of her mom's arms in the plane.
Story credit : Reddit / YakumoFujji
Obligation
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Used to work at an airport - the best ones were the teenage sons and their fathers, who clearly never hug each other, but somehow felt obliged to do so in the most awkward manner just because they were going to be apart for a few days/weeks
Story credit : Reddit / underneonloneliness
"Lost"
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This really gruff looking man comes to the counter with a dog in a carrier, he is talking really quietly and fighting back tears. so we are trying to help him with whatever he needs and be as comforting as possible.
So he says yah i just got a divorce and my wife who had a better lawyer got the dog in the divorce. she hates the dog and is only taking the dog to hurt me and she is going to put it down as soon as she gets it. the dog is just sitting in the crate happy as can be, he asks if he can have some time with dog before the flight. so we say sure and you can take him out in the grass over there and we will come and get you at the last possible moment. so he takes this really ugly but happy dog over into the grass and is rolling around with the dog.
Big 6 foot dude rough as you can imagine rolling around like a 3 year old with an ugly dog jumping all over him. (dam this happened like 30 years ago and I'm still cutting onions in here) anyway we offered to lose the dog for him, you know stuff gets lost all the time. he says thanks for the offer but his ex would hunt him to end of the earth to punish him.
Story credit : Reddit / LuvzDizneyWurld
Visa Denied
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My family is based in the Philippines but my dad was British and he had to go home because of his cancer. My sister was denied a passport/citizenship by the UK so she needed a visa with my mom. I didn’t need one. We sent him ahead and were soon to follow him to the UK as we were just waiting for my sister’s visa.
My mom and sister were denied by the embassy for a visa. The look on my sister’s face when she said goodbye to my father at the airport broke me. She couldn’t let go of his hand and the security had to follow her and gently tell her to return to us as she had run to follow my dad.
Her wails when she had to learn she couldn’t see my dad broke me more when the letter of denial arrived . I had to fly alone to take care of my dad.
They never got to say goodbye properly when he died because the cancer took him so quick. My sister was 8 years old when that happened two years ago. Until now it breaks my heart.
Story credit : Reddit / willowlillyy
Change of Plans
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I worked as an airport interpreter. Some years back I was dealing with the morning flight to Mexico and waiting for the afternoon people to fly in from out of state to go on their connecting flight to Cancun. One young guy with a guitar was standing around and talking with people. He was talking up the flight attendants and looking like he's having a great time. He gets a call and soon turns somber. It happened to fast. As his flight is boarding to Mexico he comes up to the front desk to tell us he has to cancel his flight and go back home. His dad had been killed in a car crash. We all felt so horrible for him. He turned around and went home to grieve.
Story credit : Reddit / Frankfusion
Missing Dad
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We had a flight that was cancelled due to technical difficulties and a guy was on his way to Mexico to bury his dad. The funeral was that night and he was desperate to make it. His somber face is something I can't forget.
Story credit : Reddit / Frankfusion
A First Goodbye
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I saw a soldier saying goodbye to his newborn child. That kinda messed me up a little.
I had to look away.
Story credit : Reddit / [deleted]
Three Amazing Days
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I met the love of my life and only got to spend three days with her before she got on a plane back to Japan where she was living at the time. It would be six months until I saw her again.
Married 15 years last month.
Story credit : Reddit / [deleted]
Separated Twins
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When I was 19 my twin brother was moving to Canada for his last year of university and my dad and I saw him off at the airport. When it came time to leave him, we both hugged him. Told him we loved him. And he walked off up the ramp with his ticket. I looked at my dad and he just held both of his hands to his chest and tears were rolling down his cheek. Second time I had ever saw him cry. My brother stayed for 2 years in the end before coming home. Sadly, the year after he came back my dad passed away suddenly. That day at the airport was 15 years ago now and I'll never forget the look on my dad's face. How much he loved us. Letting him go and be free, even though it hurt him so much.
Story credit : Reddit / winters0084
No Baby
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I was a wheelchair attendant at the airport. I got used to carrying tissues in my bag because of the many tearful good-byes I witnessed. Often, children of parents from another country would order a wheelchair for their parents because they didn't speak English and the children wanted to make sure they made it to the correct gate. There were lots of tears because of the distance and expense of international travel and how long it would be before they saw each other again.
However, there are two that stick out:
#1: Mother and daughter saying good-bye, the daughter, who looks pregnant, is my wheelchair passenger. I figure she is having some complications with the pregnancy. There are more than the usual amount of tears. When they are done, I am taking the daughter through TSA, asking normal questions about liquid in her bag, electronic devices in her pocket, etc. I phrased the question something like, "are you carrying anything else, besides the baby," in a lighthearted tone. She says "No baby." My heart just dropped. Turns out Mom literally had to pick her up from the hospital and driven her directly to the airport after having a miscarriage (thus needing the wheelchair). After we got through TSA, she got out a small stuffed animal, obviously meant for her infant, and cried silently into it the rest of the way to the gate.
#2: woman traveling back to the Ukraine. The passenger, clearly ill, sits down in the wheelchair and I step back to let the family say good-bye. Of course there are a lot of tears. The adult daughter is inconsolable. As I am pushing the passenger to the gate, I'm chatting with my passenger's traveling companion who is walking with us. The companion reveals that my wheelchair passenger is terminal. It was likely the last time the daughter would see her alive.
Story credit : Reddit / Dragainin
Culture Shock
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Man. Being from Venezuela, I've seen a fair share of goodbyes. Including my own. Its heartbreaking. Families being torn apart because you're searching for a better future. I remember when I first left my mom was falling apart watching her little boy disappear behind airport security. I remember being numb. Like I was watching my life from the outside.
I visited about 7 months later. I had difficulty adjusting to the US and the cultural shock hit me pretty hard. I remember hugging a friend goodbye when I had to catch my plane back and sobbing as though I was marching to my own execution, saying between my wallowing that I didnt want to be alone anymore.
Goodbyes are hard, man.
Story credit : Reddit / XtremeConfusion
Rubbermaid
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Before I was born, my mom had breast cancer. When I turned 7, she was told she had uterine cancer (by the grace of God, they caught it SUPER early). My parents were in the midst of a divorce but obviously put it on pause so my dad could help my mom in every way. He was working for Rubbermaid at the time and used all of his time off to take care of mom and take her to treatments and such. Rubbermaid decided that dad needed to go to China to take care of some issues that had arose with a product he had designed. My sisters and I took him to the airport and my dad started tearing up and told us to take care of mom and each other while he was gone. Apparently the look on my sisters and I faces was pretty upsetting to other people around us because dad said on the flight, a lady stopped him and hugged him saying she was praying for our family.
He came home 2 weeks later, mom went into remission (and has remained cancer free for 20 years!), they did end up getting a divorce but it was pretty amicable.
Oh, and he quit Rubbermaid after he got home and was offered a general manger position of a plant of a smaller company where he has stayed since. He strongly dislikes Rubbermaid (he missed several of our birthdays due to work, traveling for work and last minute "crises" that would arise).
Story credit : Reddit / schuser
Plot Twist
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A mid to late 20's couple was doing the typical "sobbing, hugging, loving and affection emotions" towards each other.
This went on for a while, guy was going overseas for a company thing, didn't catch it. Until they HAD to part. The guy did the walking backwards, waving, blowing kisses, etc etc. She stood there waving, being all emotional herself.
The second he was out of sight. She did a complete 180, emotional and physical. Just turned on a dime!
Walked away and went straight up into the arms of another guy waiting at a bar. She said something along the lines of "ok, the boy is gone, let's go!"
Story credit : Reddit / [deleted]
Keeping It Together
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When I met my SO, she'd told me she was going to spend a year abroad in Europe for her last year of college. We were together for about a year and a half before she left for Europe.
At the airport, after spending two weeks abroad with her to help her set up her apartment and school things, I managed to keep it together until I reached the bathroom of the waiting area and then cried for probably 10-15 straight minutes, until my entire face hurt.
Long distance relationships are hard, but we managed to text every day and Skype every other day. It was difficult, but we made it through and just got done moving in together :)
Story credit : Reddit / shabadabadabada
Gaining Awareness
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Me saying goodbye to my 7 year old daughter as I left for a 10 month deployment. I deployed fairly often in our marriage and when the kids were little; those were somewhat easy. The wife understood and the kids were so young they got through it fairly easy.
This deployment was right after our family spent 18 months living in an RV (while I was in grad school) and spending every moment together on the California coast hiking up and down miles and miles of trails. My daughter and I had grown particularly close; I taught her to read, I walked her to school each day, we spend evening on the beach, and rainy days coloring together or watching Dr Who.
The trip in question (that really hurt), was virtually a no notice trip. One moment we are back in North Carolina (on another camping trip) and two weeks later, I am leaving for 10+ months. This was the first time she understood (albeit in a limited way) some of the dangers associated with the trip and the length of time.
I will always remember her soul wrenching sobbing as I left...
As a follow up, I helped her over the trip by writing her (and her sister and her mother) daily. I even got access to several dozen children's books and read them to her (on a DVD) and then sent them to her as a package weekly.
Even though she is now turning 16, I occasionally see her looking through them from time to time...
Story credit : Reddit / GreenSalsa96
Internet Girlfriend
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The most heartbreaking airport goodbye I had was after visiting my girlfriend in England for the first time. She is British, I'm Canadian and we met online through a mutual friend and immediately clicked. I was only 18 at the time and had no idea how I was going to fly to Europe to meet her. Eventually, after 18 months of online dating I managed to save up enough to stay in the UK with her and her family for a month. It was one of the most amazing things I've ever done. Visiting London and seeing the sights was incredible and first meeting her in the airport was such a relief. Seeing her not as a picture in my phone, voice in my headset or face on my computer chat but as a real person lead to so many emotions. we did everything together and were inseparable and her family loved me, just like I loved them. They were so great to me and I'll never thank them enough.
Eventually the time came and I had to leave. The final few days of the trip turned from excitement and happiness to curled up in bed watching movies and lots of crying. It was heartbreaking holding her in her room and assuring her that I would see her again but the truth was I couldn't guarantee that. This trip cost me thousands of dollars and I had no idea when or if i would ever see her again. Squeezing her hand at the airport and comforting her took all of my emotional energy and I nearly broke but I had to be strong for her. She needed me to be her rock and I did the best that I could. Once luggage was checked and I had to go through security that was when the sobbing really started. Forcing myself to walk away from her as her parents took her sobbing back to the car was one of the hardest things I've done in my entire life. Long distance is brutal and I don't wish it on anybody. I know i wouldn't do it again.
I managed to go twice more: i spent 6 weeks in England the next year and then flew again before Christmas to propose. We've been married for nearly two years now and she's the love of my life. She lives with me in Canada because it was easiest for us while I finish my degree but if she wants to move back home then I'll follow her anywhere. Its the least I could do.
Story credit : Reddit / talimus96
Bye Bye Daddy
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Once saw a little girl who was trying to run after her father when he entered the security. Her mother held her back, the sound of her crying will always stay with me. It was really heartbreaking.
Story credit : Reddit / Yeezus-of-Nazareth
A Happy Ending
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Met the love of my life just a couple months before moving to New Zealand. For a whole bunch of seemingly valid reasons he couldn't come and we said goodbye at Belfast Intl. I had already rebooked to stay longer while drunk in a pub a week earlier, so 8 was flying back to have 12 hours , over night, to empty out my apartment and then fly to New Zealand. That goodbye nearly destroyed me. Knowing that I loved him so much, but we had been together such a short time that long distance would be a struggle... It was awful. We cried and held each other until it was almost too late and then I cried through security and the whole flight. Super heart breaking.
Happy ending though. Due to not having a car that day his dad dropped us off at the airport and when he saw how devastated my boyfriend was upon returning to the car he basically said, if she's so important to you, why aren't you going to New Zealand? And there we were, barely a month later he had a flight, a visa and we were apartment hunting. ❤️
I know in my heart we could've survived the distance, but I'm glad we didn't have to try.
Story credit : Reddit / i_dont_carrot_all_
