A Stranger Stole the Seat I Paid Extra For and Laughed When I Asked Her to Move — Ten Minutes After Takeoff, My 10-Year-Old Stood Up and Silenced the Whole Cabin

“My name is Patricia,” she said, quietly.

I hesitated a moment before I answered.

I was not sure I wanted to give her my name, was not sure I owed her that.

But there is a kind of peace offering in a name, and I found, somewhat to my own surprise, that I was willing to make it.

“Mariana,” I said.

She nodded, and took the name carefully, as if it were something she did not take for granted, which perhaps, just then, it was.