Holdin' Out for a Hero

I've made myself read this story three times, to make myself be less emotional:
Miracle on the Hudson

You know the one, about the plane averting the crash yesterday afternoon, instead "landing" on the Hudson River. I seriously have to call my dad (the engineer) to discuss the physics of that.

For some odd reason, I'm having an inexplicable emotional reaction to this story, and I've forced myself to re-read it so I can view it with the logical lens on. Maybe it's because my husband is supposed to travel 100% of the time for his job. Maybe it's because we know so many (many) people in Charlotte, having lived there for a while. OR, maybe it's because when you hear "New York Laguardia" and "plane landed in the river" from the radio guy, it just rings an inharmonic chord.

Back to the story behind the story. Two things that struck me: 1) the captain, "as befits a captain, twice walked the length of the sinking plane to make sure he was the last to depart"; and 2) as one passenger put it, "The most amazing part was, I saw no pushing, no shoving. I saw nothing but help and compassion."

Perhaps we needed a feel-good story right now, perhaps we are reminded that heroes live among us every day. They might not commit heroic acts every day, but they're here. They say the pilot, "Sully" Sullenberger, had moments to make a decision that impacted every life on that plane, and perhaps a chunk of northern Manhattan. Time probably stopped for him, for a moment. One nanosecond. And the choice he made was the right one.