What was supposed to be one of the happiest journeys of Rubin Swift’s life suddenly became a frightening situation.
\nIn March 2018, Rubin traveled from Ohio to Phoenix, Arizona, to pick up his newborn daughter, Ru-Andria, after gaining custody of her.
\nShe was only four days old.
\nRubin was excited to finally bring his little girl home to Cleveland.
\nHe had a birth certificate and said he also had documentation from the hospital indicating that the newborn was medically cleared to fly.
\nBut when father and daughter reached the airport, Rubin learned there was a problem.
\nHis Baby Was Too Young to Fly
\nFrontier Airlines required infants to be at least seven days old before flying.
\nRu-Andria was only four days old.
\nDespite the hospital documentation Rubin had brought with him, the airline would not allow the newborn to board.
\nSuddenly, Rubin was stranded in Phoenix with a four-day-old baby and no easy way home. Inside Edition
\nHe didn’t have enough money for several nights in a hotel or a rental car back to Ohio.
\nHe needed somewhere safe for himself and his newborn daughter until she became old enough to fly.
\nThen Rubin remembered someone he’d met only recently.
\nHer name was Joy Ringhofer.
\nA Stranger From the Hospital
\nJoy was a 78-year-old volunteer at Banner University Medical Center, where Ru-Andria had been born.
\nRubin had encountered Joy at the hospital while she was caring for and holding his newborn daughter.
\nThey had connected during that brief meeting, but they certainly weren’t longtime friends.
\nStill, with few options available, Rubin called her.
\nHe explained what had happened.
\nJoy’s response was immediate.
\nShe would come get them.
\nBut Rubin initially didn’t realize just how far her generosity was about to go.
\nJoy wasn’t simply offering them a ride.
\nShe was opening her home to them. Inside Edition
\nFrom Strangers to Family
\nJoy brought Rubin and his tiny daughter into her home.
\nShe gave them somewhere safe to stay, provided food and helped Rubin care for Ru-Andria.
\nThe newborn couldn’t fly until she was seven days old, so the unlikely trio spent the next several days together. CBS News
\nSomething remarkable happened during that short period.
\nThey stopped feeling like strangers.
\nJoy cared for the little girl as though she were part of her own family.
\nRubin was overwhelmed by the kindness he’d received from a woman who had known him for only a matter of days.
\nWhen Ru-Andria finally became old enough to fly, Frontier rebooked their trip and waived the change fees. Father and daughter were finally able to head home to Cleveland. cleveland19.com
\nBut Rubin wasn’t leaving Phoenix with only his daughter.
\nIn a way, Ru-Andria was leaving with a new grandmother too.
\n\u201cGrandma Joy\u201d \u2764\ufe0f
\nRubin said Joy had become the grandmother of his daughter and promised they would return to visit her.
\nJoy, meanwhile, had grown attached to the newborn she had helped care for.
\nOne unexpected airline problem had brought together people who otherwise might never have become part of each other’s lives.
\nRubin arrived in Arizona expecting simply to bring his daughter home.
\nInstead, he found himself stranded thousands of miles from home with a newborn.
\nThen one woman made a choice.
\nShe could have said she was sorry.
\nShe could have offered advice.
\nInstead, she opened her door.
\nAnd for a few days, a 78-year-old woman, a father she’d barely met and his four-day-old daughter became something that neither of them had expected.
\nFamily. \u2764\ufe0f
\nSometimes the people who make the biggest difference in our lives begin as complete strangers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
What was supposed to be one of the happiest journeys of Rubin Swift’s life suddenly became a frightening situation. In March 2018, Rubin traveled from Ohio to Phoenix, Arizona, to pick up his newborn daughter, Ru-Andria, after gaining custody of her. She was only four days old. Rubin was excited to finally bring his little […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4197,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4196","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"views":30,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/storydosee.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4196","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/storydosee.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/storydosee.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/storydosee.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/storydosee.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4196"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/storydosee.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4196\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4198,"href":"https:\/\/storydosee.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4196\/revisions\/4198"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/storydosee.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4197"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/storydosee.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4196"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/storydosee.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4196"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/storydosee.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4196"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}