{"id":7483,"date":"2026-09-07T20:21:19","date_gmt":"2026-09-07T20:21:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.martycoffinevans.com\/?p=7483"},"modified":"2026-09-07T20:21:19","modified_gmt":"2026-09-07T20:21:19","slug":"strange-but-not-strangers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.martycoffinevans.com\/?p=7483","title":{"rendered":"Strange but not strangers"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Morning of Grace and Gratitude, <\/strong>9″ x 12 ” watercolor, By Donna Lyons \u00a92025<\/p>\n

Strange but not strangers<\/strong><\/p>\n

By Marty Coffin Evans \u00a9 2018<\/p>\n

Many of us will recall where we were on September 11, 2001. Although our locations will vary, the impact on our lives most likely will be similar.<\/p>\n

Had we been on an airplane headed for America, our experience would be quite different. That\u2019s especially true for the thousands of passengers on 38 international planes diverted to Gander, Newfoundland.<\/p>\n

Their story has been told through the new musical \u201cCome From Away\u201d currently on national tour. Newfoundland\u2019s population of 9,000 residents increased to 16,000 with the unexpected addition of 7,000 stranded airplane passengers.<\/p>\n

Those on the planes did not know where they were let alone why they couldn\u2019t get off. With all the uncertainty surrounding these unexpected arrivals, because of the unfolding tragedy in New York and Pennsylvania, these planes were held on the tarmac for hours, some up to 14, awaiting clearance to deplane its passengers.<\/p>\n

What do you do with thousands of unexpected visitors? Empty the grocery store shelves. Bring clothing. Find housing whether at residents\u2019 homes or in makeshift accommodations.\u00a0 Provide veterinary care along with food and water for animals on board the different airplanes.<\/p>\n

Five days later, following numerous calls with passengers trying to connect with loved ones on the few available phones, they re-boarded. What must that have felt like for the travelers? What must the emotion have been for the residents whose lives could now return to normal? Or, would it ever?<\/p>\n

\u201cI was a stranger and you took me into your home\u2026\u201d so it says in Matthew 25:35. Indeed that\u2019s what the residents of Gander did. When the stranded passengers wanted to give them money, the common reply was, \u201cYou would have done the same for us.\u201d Donations did come in from those grateful passengers as did return visits and reunions.<\/p>\n

Stories such as these restore our faith in mankind. Simple acts of kindness may go unnoticed until someone decides to tell them. I\u2019m grateful they did.<\/p>\n

September 2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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There to our right, just below the 28th Street overpass, was a man dressed in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Multicolored Reflections"","block_context":{"text":"Multicolored Reflections","link":"https:\/\/www.martycoffinevans.com\/?cat=6"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.martycoffinevans.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/late-morning-early-spring-6-227x300.jpeg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":5199,"url":"https:\/\/www.martycoffinevans.com\/?p=5199","url_meta":{"origin":7483,"position":1},"title":"“What would you take?”","author":"MACE4400","date":"August 1, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"\"Smoke Fire,\" 6\" x 9\" Watercolor Copyright \u00a9 2015 By Donna Lyons By Marty Coffin Evans I remember two calls that day. \u201cMarty, do you know that Claraboya\u2019s burning?\u201d A little later another called, \u201cDo you know Webb Canyon\u2019s on fire? Is your home okay?\u201d In both cases, I said\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Multicolored Reflections"","block_context":{"text":"Multicolored Reflections","link":"https:\/\/www.martycoffinevans.com\/?cat=6"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.martycoffinevans.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/Smoke-Fire_-Watercolor-Copyright-Donna-Lyons-2015-232x300.jpeg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4853,"url":"https:\/\/www.martycoffinevans.com\/?p=4853","url_meta":{"origin":7483,"position":2},"title":"Thank you Miss Densmore for the life-changing introduction","author":"MACE4400","date":"November 1, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"\"Serendipity\" by Donna Lyons \u00a9 2016 By Marty Coffin Evans A pink slip arrived in my high school classroom summoning me to the Dean of Girl\u2019s office. \u201cOh dear,\u201d I thought, believing I was a good kid and not accustomed to being called to a front office, especially one involving\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Multicolored Reflections"","block_context":{"text":"Multicolored Reflections","link":"https:\/\/www.martycoffinevans.com\/?cat=6"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.martycoffinevans.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Serendipity-for-blog2-7-225x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.martycoffinevans.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7483","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.martycoffinevans.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.martycoffinevans.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.martycoffinevans.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.martycoffinevans.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7483"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.martycoffinevans.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7483\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7517,"href":"https:\/\/www.martycoffinevans.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7483\/revisions\/7517"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.martycoffinevans.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7483"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.martycoffinevans.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7483"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.martycoffinevans.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7483"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}