UVALDE, Texas — When Andy Garmezy got on his flight from Nashville to San Antonio with his crisis response canine Cooper, he had no idea he’d walk away with dozens of messages of hope.
"We have a very famous pooch on our flight named Cooper who is going to Uvalde," a flight attendant announced in the middle of Southwest Airlines flight 2587 on Monday. "If you would like to write a note to the children, I would be happy to pass out some napkins, maybe you could write a little note of encouragement."
Many of the passengers answered her call, writing heartfelt messages that they then delivered to Garmezy.
"I got teary and I hadn’t even been deployed yet. I was on the way down," he says.
The notes included sentiments such as "Stay strong," "Things will get better" and "You are loved."
Coming from Nashville, Garmezy says he’s used to the old story about song lyrics written on napkins, but this was something so much more.
"It was impactful," he says.
KHOU 11 reached Southwest Airlines, which sent the following statement: "Our Southwest Heart aches in the wake of recent tragedies in the communities we serve. We’re so proud of the everyday work of our Crews who work to connect millions of people every week to meaningful moments in life, and this Flight Attendant helped harness goodwill among Customers on this flight to get those well-wishes to Uvalde where the long road ahead must be paved by kindness."
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Uvalde certainly has a long road ahead, but it might be some consolation to know that those kind of messages are pouring in from not just all around Texas or all around the country, but all around the world.