Lady Sees Crying Man Forced To Throw Package In Airport Trash. What She Digs Out Is Heartbreaking

“Every year, the US sees hundreds of thousands of its citizens take to the skies for trips, both across the country and to foreign lands. If you’re one of these people, then you already know just how stressful airport security can be.

The TSA is there for our safety, but sometimes their job makes simple travel a lot harder than it should be. A woman from Florida saw firsthand another passenger being asked to toss a parcel into the trash before boarding his flight. She wouldn’t have it. Her sympathy and empathy are where this story starts and ends.

Evalise Hernandez is a regular woman from Tampa, Florida, with an extraordinary heart. On this particular day, she went to the airport with her boyfriend, Rico Bankston, who kept her company as she patiently waited to get through security. Things were pretty normal at first, but a commotion at the front of the line was holding things up. As she slowly made it toward the front of the queue, Evalise could hear what exactly the commotion was all about.

Apparently, airport security asked a fellow traveler to dump a packet into the garbage before boarding his flight. Eval knew that whatever was in that packet was extremely important to the stranger. Air travel has always been quite strict, but since the tragic events of 9/11, it has gone to a whole new level. The passenger was willing to let go of the parcel, but he begged TSA to place the packet in Lost and Found rather than throw it away altogether. Sadly, the TSA’s hands were tied, and their protocol asks passengers to throw their items away without looking back or not to board at all.

Evalise’s curiosity peaked at this moment. Despite not knowing whether the contents of the package were dangerous or not, the man, after much begging, had finally discarded his parcel and was heading to his gate. Other passengers were seemingly uninterested in the whole ordeal, but Evalise, after realizing that this mysterious man was on the verge of tears, knew something was wrong. Alas, it was her turn to pass through security, but she made one final request to her boyfriend Rico before bidding him farewell.

Evalise couldn’t just take the package out of the trash and hope that security wouldn’t notice. While hugging Rico goodbye, she asked for a rather odd favor. She wanted him to discreetly go through the garbage bin and pick up the discarded parcel to see what was inside of it. Evalise wasn’t just curious about what the package contained; she was genuinely trying to help. As security was busy checking on Evalise, Rico went straight to the garbage bin to retrieve the parcel. He turned around, waved a final goodbye to his girlfriend, and made the long trip back to Tampa.

The parcel was unopened during the entire drive. Throughout her flight, Evalise was extremely uneasy. She couldn’t forget the distraught man and his parcel that was tossed into the bin. Evalise was also at a loss for words at how heartless TSA treated the sad man, but most of all, she was curious to know what was in the package that wasn’t allowed on board.

As soon as her plane landed, she called Rico to find out. After learning of its contents, Evalise had a personal mission to help the stranger out. Rico had no idea what he would find upon opening the package. If it wasn’t allowed on the flight, it could have been something completely worthless or deemed too dangerous for air travel. After the long drive back to Tampa, he opened up the package and was taken aback by what was inside — snow globes, one with a picture of a young lady and her dog, and another with two elderly folks.

This was what the hubbub was all about. On the base, Rico read the inscription to Evalise: ‘We love you, Katie, Nana, and Papa, January 25th, 16.’ Evalise and Rico sprung right into action. They wanted to help but didn’t know where to start. Now that the package was secure, the pair’s plan of lending a helping hand was unraveling. The only information available to them was that a pair of snow globes were made by grandparents for someone named Katie, and that a man was attempting to transport the souvenirs through St. Pete Clearwater Airport on a February morning.

Evalise did the only thing that came to mind, asking for the help of strangers online. The pair posted their story on Facebook, but not every story goes viral. A week after posting her story and sharing images of the snow globe, its inscription, and the pictures, the post was shared almost 50,000 times. At this rate, someone would be bound to point her in the right direction. Eventually, she could let out a long sigh of relief as someone, a seemingly random person, had gotten back to her about her story.

The random contact was not a family member nor the seller of the snow globe but was an employee of Things Remembered, a souvenir shop. This person had no idea who was in the picture or for whom it was custom made for but did know the snow globe’s model. Not long after, Evalise finally got what she was looking for — a name. The employee at Things Remembered got back to Evalise, telling her that the order was made by Alinda Madrey and that the snow globes were made for her granddaughter.

However, the man at the airport obviously wasn’t Linda. So who could he be? Eventually, Evalise learned that the upset man was Katie’s father, Michael, and was meant to take the snow globes home with him. With Evalise and Rico’s determination, the helpfulness of a clerk from the Midwest and headquarters from a souvenir shop in Ohio, plus the millions upon millions of people who saw Evalise’s post, the owner of the snow globes was finally identified.

But the story of her massive kindheartedness doesn’t end here. With the identity of the snow globes’ owner, all that was left to do was for Evalise and Rico to find out where she lived. As luck would have it, Linda’s home was literally just around the corner from theirs. They wanted to record Evalise and Linda’s first-ever meeting on camera.

On that fateful day, Linda knocked gently on Evalise’s door, where they met face to face. A tremendous smile was plastered on Evalise’s face upon seeing who was at her door. The cameraman caught every second of it, from the first smile to the hug that these two women shared. After talking for a bit, Evalise learned just how special that snow globe actually was.

Turns out, the snow globes had quite a bit of history. Katie, Linda’s granddaughter, was having a birthday soon, and these snow globes were what her grandparents were planning on giving to her. Linda thanked Evalise with all her heart for returning the specially made snow globes, but she wasn’t the only one who wanted to extend their thanks.

The inscription on the snow globe read a date, January 25th, 16, which Evalise soon learned wasn’t Katie’s birthday. Instead, this was the very special day that Michael and his wife had adopted her. It was the day Michael’s family became whole. Linda and her husband had made the snow globe to let their adopted granddaughter know that blood is not important; it’s the love that matters most.

Evalise’s story, one that has warmed the hearts of millions of close followers and readers across the country. Eventually, the story of the missing snow globe had simmered down. Life goes on, and Evalise has been extremely busy with her day-to-day. The caring woman from Tampa is expecting a child soon. Nobody is more deserving or well-equipped to raise a family than the loving woman whose act of kindness inspired thousands of others.”