Matthew, living in Ferndale, & I, living in Bowling Green, OH, were brought together through a connecting flight out of Detroit on Thanksgiving Morning in 2013. Hungover & sprawled out in the center seat with all the leg room he could’ve asked for on a Spirit flight, he’ll admit I was the last thing he wanted to move for at 6:15 am. Running 10 minutes late (story of my life), here I come with 2 bags, wearing 5 jackets, a hoodie, a long sleeve shirt over my t-shirt, & of course I had the window seat. Staring annoyingly up at me & I down at him, he nods at the aisle seat as if this is perfectly acceptable since I obviously won’t fit past him with my sumo parka on. I apologize, ask for my seat, & begin to peel back the 50 layers. Just as I set back & get in that perfect position, Matthew starts asking me “So where ya from, where are you going?” I decide to entertain the small talk, after all he’s a handsome guy. We discover he’s headed to Florida “for work to renovate a condo” (he helped hang curtain rods at his parents new condo I found out later), & I was meeting 2 of my GF’s in Richmond, VA for a single girls Thanksgiving celebration. Eventually I’m reminded the connecting flight to Philly will be over in 20 minutes, so I tell him not to judge me as I just got off a miserable 18 hr shift, so I’m gonna have myself some vodka & OJ. He laughs & says he is also in rough shape as the night prior was his 10 year high school reunion from Novi High, & he’ll join me on a morning beverage “to continue the night.” We cheers to complimentary doubles for flying on a holiday, & chat it up more. He asks me for coffee during our layover as we pack up, but I have to rush so I regretfully decline. As we stand waiting to get into the aisle, we’re passing polite smiles at each other knowing we may never see each other again. I tell him it was really nice running into him, & the rest was history...