Karoline Kinjorski boarded that plane without really knowing how to breathe.
It was 2022, and she had just learned that her father had died. She and her boyfriend bought a last-minute flight from Seattle to Detroit so she could get to her family as soon as possible. She was in shock, holding back tears, and asked the crew for one small thing: chamomile tea. “She was looking for some kind of comfort”, she recalls today.
A flight attendant explained that chamomile tea usually isn’t available on domestic flights. But about ten minutes later, Melissa Sausaman appeared with a bag of chamomile tea and a handwritten note: “We are so sorry about your father. Please let us know if there is ANYTHING we can do to make today less stressful”. It was signed by four flight attendants, with hearts. Karoline managed to say thank you and burst into tears. Her mother, messaging her from afar, wrote: “It’s Dad. Dad is there and he’s telling you that he sees you”.
Melissa barely remembers that day. She doesn’t even know where she got the tea. She does remember the intention: to be there without intruding. Four years later, Karoline opened the book she had brought on that flight and found the note. She recorded a video, posted it on TikTok and Instagram, and after contacting Delta, managed to reunite with Melissa at the Detroit airport on September 14.