Over the course of the flight, the complete strangers began to bond over the unexpected

Desperate to reunite with his grieving family 7,000 miles away, Anesu Masube booked a flight from Washington D.C. to Zimbabwe two days before Christmas in 2017.

Already mourning the loss of his mother, he was prepared for what he thought would be the worst flight of his life.

The only available route took him from D.C. to London, London to Johannesburg, then Johannesburg to Harare, Zimbabwe. "And because of the last-minute nature... I got a middle seat," Masube told CNN Travel. "I was so cramped, almost sitting sideways.

He spotted an emergency exit row with only one person it it and asked a flight attendant if he could swap seats and she thankfully gave him the "green light," so he grabbed his backpack and sat next to the female passenger.

"I think she made a joke: 'Welcome to Paradise.' Something like that," Masube said. "That was almost the opposite reaction I was imagining or expecting in my head."

He continued: "I just remember from that moment onward, it was an unexpected kindness. Someone being really nice to me at a moment that I really needed it. And we just started speaking."

Hannah Brown, the passenger who previously had the row to herself, tells CNN she remembers making "maybe a little joke" to Masube. But her initial internal reaction was "Ugh...They're gonna move this guy next to me."

Christmas was also a difficult time for Brown, whose father had died unexpectedly two years earlier. At the time, she was working in Tanzania, similar to Masube, had to travel across the world alone to reunite with her grieving family.

"I swear as I was putting the earphone back in, he's like, 'Hi, I'm Anesu.' And just started chatting," Brown remembers "And I remember thinking, 'Oh God. This guy's a chatterer.'"

But as the conversation progressed, the travelers learned that they had a lot more in common than they initially thought. Brown had studied abroad in Botswana and traveled to Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe with her father when he visited her in Africa.

Brown assumed Masube was traveling back for the holidays to be with his family and he debated telling her the truth. Eventually he shared the stark reality that his mother had died the day before.

Having been in a similar situation not long ago, they pair quickly bonded. "I remember us having lots of immediately deep conversations about grief and losing a parent overseas and how difficult that is, and how lonely that is," says Brown.

For the rest of the flight, the complete strangers continued to chat, celebrating the lives of the ones they'd lost.

Brown admits thinking, "He's cute...Not just cute. He's hot, attractive..."

Even the flight attendant caught on to their connection, saying: "You guys really hit it off."

When the plane landed at London Heathrow airport, the travelers went their separate ways -- Masube to Zimbabwe and Brown to France, where she was vacationing with family. But, they were sure to swap numbers beforehand.

Over the next 10 days, Masube and Brown texted one another. When he had to return to D.C., he flew the exact same route back. On an early January morning in 2018, he waited for his final leg of the journey out of London Heathrow.

"I was at a lounge bar, waiting for my flight," he said. "And then I just saw her walk in."

"I was like, 'Are you going back today? What time are you, which flight?'," he continued. "11:30 a.m., same flight. Virgin Atlantic, coming back to DC. 'What's your seat number?' She was sitting on 60A. I was sitting on 61A. One in front of each other..."

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When they boarded, their fellow passengers in 60B and 61B even offered to switch seats so Masube and Brown could sit together.

"What was so real was just the connection and the feeling. And so we immediately started dating, days after landing back in D.C," he says.

They have been together ever since. Nearly eight years later, they're now married and living together in D.C.

"It's been a great relationship, life, marriage -- so many experiences, so many positives, some challenges. We have traveled the world together...I couldn't have thought of a better partner to experience that life with except Hannah," Masube said. "I'm just looking forward to the rest of our lives together and seeing what's in store."

Read the original article on People

A Man Received Devastating News Before a 7-Hour Flight. Then He Sat Down Next to Someone Who'd Change His Life