<\/p>\n
Who was it, sitting, during a long flight, next to photographer Linda Schaefer?<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s back up, for it started \u2014 this mystery of a stranger on a transatlantic plane \u2014 when Linda met Mother Teresa in Atlanta on June 15, 1995. At that time Schaefer,\u00a0a former CNN editor and photojournalist, was covering the famous saint\u2019s arrival at an airport, at which time, strangely enough, \u201c[Mother Teresa] came right up to me, through the other people, took my hands, held them up to her heart, looked deeply into my soul, and I heard her say, \u2018Come and see,’\u201d recounts the former journalist.<\/p>\n
That was all.\u00a0Come and see.\u00a0<\/em>But coming from Mother Teresa, that was enough!<\/p>\n Two months later,\u00a0unable to shake those three words, Linda found herself on a\u00a0Lufthansa flight to India, headed for Bombay, Bangalore, then Calcutta.<\/p>\n At the time, Schaefer was \u201cnot in a very good place.\u201d She had lost her first husband to cancer and was having trouble in a subsequent relationship. It seemed like a good idea: to get away and think things through \u2014 at Mother Teresa\u2019s convent. She had no idea what to expect \u2014 why she was going.\u00a0She was planing to return to Georgia in four months, though her visa allowed for a six-month stay. When she boarded, she was happy to see two empty seats next to her (meaning she\u2019d be able to stretch out).<\/p>\n Just before take-off,\u00a0however, a \u201csmall man\u201d boarded and sat next to her. \u201cHe had gray hair and twinkling eyes and a little gray-silver beard, very well-dressed in designer blue jeans and a blue blazer,\u201d she says. As the plane taxied, he said, out of the blue, turning to Linda,\u00a0\u201cYou had a very difficult week last week.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Linda looked at him and said, \u201cI had a very difficult\u00a0year<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n He had a slight Indian accent and \u2014 elaborating on her difficult year \u2014 somehow knew she had nearly lost her father.<\/p>\n \u201cNow I\u2019m looking at him like, \u2018what?<\/em>\u2018\u201d says Linda. \u201cAnd he said,\u00a0\u2018Yes, your father\u2019s heart, but your prayers saved him.’\u201d\u00a0<\/em>Her father indeed had heart failure and a close call.\u00a0The stranger then said,\u00a0\u201cDon\u2019t worry. Your husband will be there in six months.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m not planning on being [away] for six months,\u201d replied Linda, with a hint of irritation. \u201cI\u2019m planning on about four months.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNo,\u201d<\/em>\u00a0insisted the short man.\u00a0\u201cIt will be closer to six months.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n The conversation, recalls the photojournalist, went on for about three hours. \u201cHe told me everything about my past, about my present, and things that would happen in the future. He told me about her relationship and not to worry about it, that it would be fine. To test the man, she asked him her boyfriend\u2019s name and the stranger, appearing to struggle a bit, then said \u201chis first name begins with an \u2018R\u2019 and his second name with a \u2018C.\u201d<\/p>\n As it happens, his name is Ron Campbell!<\/p>\n The stranger was playing a little cat-and-mouse here. He told Linda she had a hole in her heart but that it would soon be filled with the birth of a child. In less than five months, she was pregnant. Ron came to India and she returned in January of 1996. The stranger had\u00a0 told her that she was about to embark on an\u00a0\u201cimportant journey,\u201d<\/em>\u00a0and that she could never ever stop it \u2014 that sometimes she had embarked on projects before and then stopped due to her own insecurity.<\/p>\n \u201cSometimes you get a little angry, but you have a very good heart, a very good heart,\u201d<\/em>\u00a0the stranger told Linda, smiling at another person and adding, \u201cBut you must always be like me, sweet. You see, they bring me chocolates.\u201d<\/p>\n The flight attendants had been bringing him Swiss chocolates and hovering over him \u2014 as if drawn magnetically.<\/p>\n In the end, when she asked him what he did, he said he was in the fashion business. And he certainly looked the part. Asked what his company was, he said, \u201cI work for a company A To Z.\u201d When she later tried to call such a company, she found it didn\u2019t exist. He also told her not to worry, that the next leg of her flight had been arranged. When she went to purchase a connecting flight, her ticket \u2014 which she had never purchased \u2014 was waiting for her.<\/p>\n Is it real? Was it good? Would an angel fudge his work place \u2014 and look like he was into fashion?<\/p>\n We have no idea. There are many similar accounts of well-dressed strangers that vanish after miraculous events \u2014 and pretend they are from this world but are from somewhere else. Linda is now a Catholic speaker and author of\u00a0Come and See<\/em>.<\/p>\n Angels. By their fruits you know them. In this case, it was peace for a troubled woman in Atlanta.<\/p>\n