Tonight, I saw an act of kindness that made me cry. We went out to eat at Cracker Barrel. Almost done with our meal, we noticed an elderly woman sitting alone, drinking a milk and waiting for her food.
I couldn’t help but think about her. She looked so lonely… Was she widowed? Where was her family? Why was she eating at a restaurant at almost 8 pm (which is late for most older people)?
At the table next to us were three big, tough, middle-aged guys. They were hard-working and hungry.
I asked Tom if we should buy her dinner or go sit with her. Then one of our boys said or did something that distracted us for a moment. When we looked back, we saw these big guys moving the elderly woman to their table.
We watched them for a while. The woman was smiling so wide, her face lit up, and she was chatting away like she hadn’t talked to anyone in a long time. I was really touched, and so was Tom.
Before we left, we gave them some money for their meal, and Tom thanked the men for showing us that kindness still exists. I took a picture of the moment, but honestly, I’ll always remember it.
Credit: Claire Senglin Richardson