Imagine being a dad, Rubin Swift, who just found out he has a newborn daughter in Arizona and is granted custody.
Thrilled, the 43-year-old from Cleveland, Ohio, packs his bags and heads south to bring his baby girl, Ru-Andria, home.
He meets her for the first time at Banner University Medical Center, where he also encounters Joy Ringhofer, a 78-year-old NICU volunteer.
Joy, recently widowed, senses Rubin’s genuine love for his daughter, who had been in the NICU for a few days as a precaution.
Rubin, already a father to three grown children and four step-children with his 32-year-old wife Tiffany, is touched when Joy gives him her phone number out of the blue.
She even offers to drive him to the airport when it’s time to leave.
But here’s the twist: Rubin can’t board the plane with Ru-Andria because Frontier Airlines requires proof that the infant is at least seven days old.
Rubin is stuck; it would take a week to get the necessary documentation.
“I was out of money and the hospital told me that I wouldn’t be able to get a birth certificate for seven days.
I was worried that if security saw me sleeping at the airport with a newborn, they’d take her away from me and charge me with neglect. I was stuck.”
Desperate, Rubin calls his wife Tiffany, who is equally at a loss.
They can’t afford a rental car or a hotel room.
Tiffany recalls, “When he called me from the airport and told me that they weren’t going to let him fly until he could get a birth certificate in four days, I felt panicked, I didn’t want him to sleep at the airport.”
“I was scared because it looked like we were out of options.”
Then Rubin remembers Joy, the kind-hearted NICU volunteer who had driven him to the airport.
With no other options, he takes a leap of faith and calls her.
To his relief, Joy insists on coming back to the airport to pick him and Ru-Andria up.
Joy’s response is heartwarming: “I told him, ‘I’m going to take you home with me,’ so wait right there. There are a lot of dangers out there, but there’s a lot of good, too.”
“I’d enjoyed talking to Rubin at the hospital and helping him with the baby.”
“He was polite and kind and I could tell that he had a good heart.”
Rubin, who owns a deli back in Ohio, is amazed by Joy’s generosity. “I’m black and she is white.
I’m a stranger who grew up in the projects in the Bronx and she’s a great-grandmother who recently lost her husband.
She knew very little about me, and yet, she took me in. Color wasn’t an issue to her. She showed me that in this crazy world, there is still compassion.”
Rubin immediately calls Tiffany to share the incredible news.
Both are in awe of Joy’s kindness. Rubin didn’t hesitate to accept her offer, as he had felt a strong connection with her from the moment they met.
“Miss Joy was like an angel and she’d really bonded with Ru-Andria.
Whenever my daughter heard her voice, her face would light up.
As soon as she took us in, I knew we’d be friends for life.”
Over the next four days, Rubin, Joy, and baby Ru-Andria form a unique family unit.
They go on walks, shop for groceries, and even visit the gravesite of Joy’s late husband.
Rubin observes, “I could see the pain in her face from losing her husband, so at the cemetery, as we sat there with the baby, I said, ‘Hey, Charles, look — it’s your new granddaughter.’ We had some touching and wonderful moments. I lost my mom to cancer in 2007, so Joy really became like a mother or grandmother figure to me.”
Finally, the birth certificate arrives, and Rubin and Ru-Andria can head home.
Though excited to reunite with his family, Rubin knows he’ll miss Joy. They vow to stay in touch, often connecting via FaceTime.
“We just knew that we’d always be in touch from that day forward. We started out as strangers, and ended up as good friends.”
“Rubin is very grateful to me, but I’m also very grateful to have had the opportunity,” Joy reflects.
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