When your travel plans take you close to a thousand miles off course, all you can do is try to make the best of it and enjoy the journey. So, when my flight home to Columbus, Ohio from my last speaking event of the year took me from Philadelphia to Tampa for my connecting flight, I simply had to figure out a way to make it memorable.
I checked my flight itinerary and saw that I’d have close to a 3-hour layover in Tampa so I reached out to a few of my good friends from the real estate industry to see if they might want to meet me at the airport for a few beers. I figured the only thing better than a few beers in the airport would be a few beers in the airport with friends, right?
My fellow podcast host Bill Risser couldn’t connect because he was going to be in Southwest Florida helping clients in his role with Fidelity National Title but luckily, my other Tampa connection Anthony Malafronte was available to meet up, catch up, and drink up over stories about real estate and real life.
Anthony, or “Mal” as he is known by his close friends, is an amazing broker with Florida Executive Realty and is more well known for his team brand – My Tampa Agent. Of course, he’s also known for his green Crocs, his New England-bred confidence, Italian emotions, and genuine kindness he shares with everyone he meets. This dude is simply one of those “good people” we all need more of in our lives.
Ladies and Gentlemen, Welcome to Tampa
My flight arrived on time into Tampa and I quickly jumped on the sky tram to take me from the C concourse to the Hard Rock Café in the main terminal. Mal and I grabbed a seat at the outdoor bar (yes, TPA has an outdoor bar overlooking the planes as they arrive and depart) and started catching up on our activities and results of the last few months since we were together on the golf course after my last visit to Florida.
As usual, Mal was most interested in what was going on with me, my speaking and real estate business, and my family. He and Bill have played golf a few times with my son Ryan and he’s also met my daughter and my wife. He asked about Ryan’s college selection process and queried about Riley’s progress at South Carolina. He truly is like the “Uncle Anthony” from Tampa they didn’t know they had.
We caught up on real estate stories and successes, chatted about the top sports stories, and engaged in (highly embellished) stories of our musical favorites – The Grateful Dead and Tom Petty. Cameron was an attentive server and kept our beers filled while we traded stories and did what the best salespeople do – asked each other questions.
Eventually, the conversation turned to Mal’s most recent trip home to Southern Connecticut to be with his family for his mother’s final few days of life and her subsequent funeral. Listening to Mal share stories of his Mom and Dad, growing up with 4 brothers, and life in New England was accentuated by the smile on his face and the pronounced forward lean in his posture that simply captures attention. He shared a humorous yet humbling story of is Mom breaking hours of no communication from her bed to suddenly ask her son to go get her a donut. Like a good son, he stood up and walked out of the room, stood smiling in the hallway for a few moments, just long enough for his mom to realize his absence. Mal returned to his Mom’s bedside and said, “Sorry Mom, they don’t have any donuts.”
His mom smiled and winked at him and said, “You didn’t even ask…but that’s okay. I couldn’t eat a donut anyway.”
As Anthony told me that story, a tear appeared in the corner of his eye and he smiled. A tear appeared in the corner of my eye and I smiled. I’m sure that somewhere, Dolores was smiling too.
I’m positive that story was worth the detour a thousand miles out of the way and the 3+ hour layover in Tampa.
We swapped a few more stories about Dolores’s 10 grandchildren and 1 great-grandchild, Sophia Dee. Sophia is Anthony and Lydia’s first grandchild and has captured the prominent real estate on Mal’s I-phone home screen.
As I called for the tab, we finished our beers and visit chatting about the eulogy that Anthony was honored to give for his mom at her celebration of life. He shared that the words and message he shared was easier to compose than he first feared. He simply sat back surrounded by family and friends and thought what his Mom would want him to talk about – the things that were important to her; Food, Friends, Family, and Faith.
Making the Best of the Situation
Usually, when you travel, layovers and delays are not something you like or look forward to. I remember when I first booked this flight, I was disappointed that I couldn’t find a more direct flight home. As I am sitting here writing this from the back row of Southwest flight #1500 on my last flight of the year, I’ve got a big smile on my face and a soft spot in my heart for Mal and Lydia and his entire family, and most importantly, his Mom.
I’m glad my #travelkarma took me to Tampa tonight and gave me a few hours to build relationships, solve problems and have fun with my friend. But this post isn’t about me and my philosophy, it’s about Mal and his Mom, so I’ll finish with Anthony’s philosophy because I know he not only says it, he believes and lives it and it will make his Mom proud.
Get up. Show Up. Do the Work.
Thanks for the beers and conversations Mal. You are #GoodPeople.