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Wife of flight 3407 victim awaits special gift

Posted at 11:50 PM, Dec 23, 2015
and last updated 2019-01-22 16:27:41-05

Just two days before Christmas and Buffalo Niagara International Airport is jam packed with holiday travelers.

Folks are rushing to catch their flight and many are just wishing their flight would arrive.

But in the midst of all the hustle and bustle -  the reunions of soldiers and their parents and grandkids with grandparents - is a special reunion between two strangers.

“Aww I hope she’s not crying,” Robin Tolsma told 7 Eyewitness News.

If her name sounds familiar it’s because we’ve followed her journey for nearly six years.

After losing her husband Darren on flight 3407, the Lancaster resident made it her mission to talk to young people about staying strong in the face of adversity.

In the year since we last touched base with Tolsma,  her kids have left the nest and she’s now looking for a new friend.

“I’m anxiously awaiting for her to come in,” Tolsma says as she stands in the United Airline terminal.

“I’m hoping this will be a good experience and flight for her . . . I’m just as worried as if it were my own kids.”

So as folks gathered their bags, Tolsma’s Christmas miracle was carried through the terminal doors. In a gray crate was a four week old Pekinese-Beagle mix arrived after a long flight and a transfer from St. Louis.

After freeing the puppy from the crate, it didn’t take long for the water works to begin.

A widow who lost her love from six years ago, now stands in the middle of a busy airport ready to open her heart again. . . this time to a little girl named Bolt.