She was crying alone at the airport. Then she met her future best friend

(CNN) — Maggie Musgrave was sitting alone at Miami International Airport and crying.

In the year It was a Sunday evening in the summer of 2011. Thunderstorms were raging over Miami, and the airport’s departure area was becoming increasingly crowded, with stranded travelers jostling for seats as the plane took off.

Maggie, 28, was on her way home after spending the weekend partying in Florida. As she thanked her friends for organizing a fun few days of festivities, the hangover was now kicking in and something was lingering underneath: Maggie felt that the upcoming wedding was a big mistake.

As she wiped away her tears, Maggie heard a screeching sound. She looked up to see an adorable Cavalier King Charles Spaniel resting on her lap.

“I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, I could use this dog as a pet,'” Maggie recalls. She greeted the animal eagerly, rubbing its belly.

Behind the dog was a woman — who appeared to be its owner — rushing to apologize.

“Oh hello sorry!” said the stranger.

“No, it’s fine, it’s fine,” Maggie said, still petting the dog, now licking her hand happily.

“I’m Cindy,” said the woman. “He’s DeNiro,” she said, gesturing to her dog.

“Like Robert?” Maggie asked.

Cindy says yes, her dog is named after actor Robert De Niro – she grew up loving “The Godfather” movies. Scarlett O’Hara, whose movie is named after the main character in “Gone With the Wind,” tells Cindy.

Immediately, the two women developed an easy rapport. Maggie and Cindy were the same age, both dog lovers, both movie fans. And they were both waiting for the same nonstop flight back home to Washington, DC.

“We hit it off right away,” Cindy told CNN Travel Today.

When Cindy crosses paths with Maggie at the airport, she questions some of her life choices. Cindy was working a job she hated, wanting to leave but worried that it wouldn’t be easy to find something new. She earned her master’s degree in the middle of the recession, and jobs were still scarce.

“I really had this despair — ‘What does my future look like?'” Cindy remembers.

Both women find comfort in each other’s company as Maggie and Cindy chat while waiting for their flight.

Cindy had noticed Maggie’s tears — “She was pulling herself together when I was about to grab Dennyro,” she recalls — but she wasn’t pressed for details about what was going on.

“I didn’t want to seem too intrusive. I figured if we talked it would take her mind off things,” Cindy said.

Sure enough, Maggie found herself chatting with Cindy, who was open, friendly, and cheerfully kind, a welcome relief from her worries about the upcoming wedding. In addition, De Niro’s dog was charming and sweet, giving comfort and hugs.

And when Cindy mentions her work-related issues, Maggie tells her that she can help Cindy start over. She worked at a staffing agency – finding people was her perfect role.

The two women had a deep conversation for over an hour. And when the flight was finally called, they exchanged details — promising to meet again when they were home in DC.

“I just met this wonderful girl,” Cindy told her boyfriend when he met her at Ronald Reagan National Airport.

Maggie talks about her new friend, her then-fiancé, though she leaves the context out.

“I didn’t cry when I met her and told her that I didn’t want to marry him.”

A growing friendship

Back to DC, Maggie and Cindy start texting back and forth. Dogs are pulled over to meet again next week.

Cindy said: “We met for lunch with our puppies; And they killed him.

Discussing Lebanese food, the two women pick up where they left the airport.

Maggie said their relationship felt “very natural”.

As the lunch progressed, the two grew more comfortable in each other’s presence. And DeNiro and Scarlett O’Hara followed.

“When the dogs met and we realized how close we were in DC, that really solidified it,” says Maggie.

Maggie and Cindy realize they’re alike in small ways — they both love fall, calling the leaves their favorite season of the year — and in big ways — they both share the same Catholic faith, for example.

Cindy added: “Maggie’s energy was very similar to mine. “We had and still have a lot of common interests – we both agreed on our political views and the types of films we both liked.

“And of course the life of a puppy. We’ve never had anything not to talk about. She’s very extroverted. I’m extroverted. So it just worked out.”

Maggie and Cindy agree to meet again.

Time passed, and these meetings became more frequent.

Maggie was determined to help Cindy find a new job. Whenever something suitable comes up, she passes it on Cindy’s way.

Maggie is in her marriage though. Later down the line, she and her husband broke up. Cindy supported McGee throughout.

“I think having Maggie talk about her feelings and situations after she got married helped me along the way because I didn’t know him,” Cindy said. “I came to lend an ear.”

Cindy called their conversation a “judgment-free zone” and explained that it went both ways.

“We can talk to each other honestly.”

Intimacy

About a year after meeting Cindy at the airport, Maggie began working as a domestic worker. Cindy comes up with a job at her company that she thinks would be perfect, and her friend suggests she apply.

To Cindy and Maggie’s mutual happiness, Cindy gets a job. The two women became colleagues, and were able to spend more time together.

“We had lunch and celebrated each other’s birthdays and drank our coffee — maybe too much during the Pumpkin Spice Latte,” Cindy says.

“Cindy actually threw me a birthday party one year,” Maggie recalls. “It was a pumpkin theme.”

In return, Maggie bakes Cindy a birthday carrot cake, knowing it’s her friend’s favorite. Maggie wanders the DC metro on a cold February day to surprise Cindy at the office.

Maggie and Cindy’s lives become increasingly intertwined, with Maggie becoming close to many of Cindy’s friends.

“Her energy is contagious,” says Cindy. “Every one of my friends, they all get along with Maggie and love it.”

After the divorce, Maggie started dating again. She takes the men on double dates with Cindy and Cindy’s boyfriend as she researches potential partners.

DeNiro and Scarlett O’Hara also continued to enjoy each other’s company, and Maggie and Cindy often dog-sat each other.

Cindy The stranger she met at the airport then was one of her best friends.

“I wanted the most important and supportive people in my life to be my bridesmaids. People who made me proud of myself,” Cindy said. “Maggie was one of them, because not only has she been such a good friend over the years, she’s also been the reason for my career and success.”

“I was so excited to be Cindy’s bride,” recalls Maggie. “Her friends adored her and being the best friend of the group was humbling and beautiful.”

Lasting friendship

Today, Maggie and Cindy no longer work together, and Maggie can no longer live in DC.

But even though the two women don’t see each other as much as before, their friendship is strong. Whenever Maggie and Cindy meet, it doesn’t seem like time has passed. And when they separate, they root from far away.

“I love the idea that no matter where you are, we’re there — we’ll always be there,” says Maggie. “And I love that, it’s effortless.”

Cindy still lives in DC, now with her husband and young daughter. Maggie was at Cindy’s baby shower to help her welcome her baby. Today, Cindy loves her job, and credits her current career success to Maggie.

“Who knows where I would be today — and if I had the same sense of accomplishment — if we hadn’t crossed paths,” she says.

Since moving out of DC, Maggie has lived in Chicago, New York and Florida. She recently moved to Los Angeles. She is currently on a six-month sabbatical in a camper van with her partner, visiting American ski resorts.

“It’s exciting because I thought my life was going to take a completely different direction,” Maggie reflects on meeting Cindy on the eve of her wedding.

“I didn’t keep the husband, I kept the friend,” she laughs.

“My life has been inconsistent all the time, but the things that are true are my true friendships, my ‘frame.’ I don’t think I’ve ever lost it because I have Cindy in my life.”

Sadly, DeNiro and Scarlett O’Hara have both passed away, but Maggie and Cindy supported each other through those losses, and enjoy sharing memories of their dogs with each other. And he still credits Denyro for bringing them together in the first place.

Both Maggie and Cindy say their chance airport meeting and subsequent lasting friendship taught them the importance of practicing transparency, especially when traveling.

“You never know how this is going to change your life or how this is going to happen,” says Cindy. “I still think it’s crazy that one of my best friends is someone I met at the airport.”

“Be a victim,” Maggie agrees. “I was crying, I didn’t even know if I wanted to meet someone new.”

Both stress the importance of following up if you meet a potential companion on your travels.

“Take the initiative after that, if you feel that connection,” says Maggie. “It doesn’t matter what age you are — don’t be afraid. Email that person back, be happy, say yes.”

Although Maggie and Cindy have shared many special memories during their decades of friendship, they have never traveled together and have not sat side by side at an airport since meeting in the departure hall of Miami International Airport 12 years ago. They both say they would love to go on an adventure together one day.

“I know Maj and I will continue to share memories until we are in our 90s or so,” says Cindy. “Maybe after we retire we’ll travel the world together. See what other adventures we can have while waiting at the airport.”

Top photo of Cindy Jarin, left, and Maggie Musgrave, right, courtesy of Brittany Defren