Sometimes a person notices you’re struggling and steps in when it would’ve been easier to walk away. These moments of compassion and wisdom can catch us completely off guard but stay in our hearts forever. Here are 11 stories from people who found kindness in times of loneliness, when they least expected it.
1.
My mom moved us from Chicago to Florida the summer before I started high school. Freshman year a buddy I met in the neighborhood and I joined the Wrestling team. My mom worked day shifts and we had a meeting scheduled for Saturday morning about an hour away so my buddy’s mom agreed to drive us.
Saturday morning comes and my buddy is sick and decides not to go but his mom still offered to take me. We drove the hour, I got destroyed by a senior in about 45 seconds and we headed back home.
On the way back my buddy’s mom asked if me and my younger brother had gotten our library cards yet. I said we hadn’t due to school, sports and my mom’s day shifts limiting our time. She said we should get them soon.
She dropped me off at home where the neighbor was keeping an eye on my 7-year-old brother. 15 minutes later I was getting ready to make us some sandwiches when there was a knock on my door. It was my friend’s mom and she said she wanted to take us for library cards and lunch. We went to the local library and she signed for our cards then took us for burgers.
Didn’t seem like much, but 23 years later I stood as best man for her son at his wedding, my buddy from the wrestling team, and told this story during my speech. She had passed on 10 years earlier. I cried. He cried. My little brother who was also there cried.
To this day I am still best friends with my buddy. His mom treated me like her own anytime I was at their house and I’ll never forget the day we got library cards.
© BigBucs731 / Reddit
2.
When I was in fourth grade I had pretty bad reading issues. I had first graders reading level. My best friend in my class was named Francis. She was the smartest person in our entire class. We got along so well.
I remember her talking to our teacher after school and then asking me if I’d like to come to her house to read stories together a couple times a week. She never made me feel bad, never appeared to be frustrated and always acted like we were having the most fun ever.
We started reading stories the teacher had given her but it was way over my head. I would leave feeling frustrated and stupid. This went on for like 2 weeks then she told me to bring that Shel Silverstein book, “Where the Sidewalk Ends,” over. That was it. Everything clicked.
A fourth grader, taking her own time to better a friend struggling…. Francis, I will forever be grateful to you. (icing on this cake- I ended up getting a job as an editor for a Hearst publication right outta college!)
© theWildBore / Reddit
3.
It was around November/December and I was behind a woman at the grocery store who did not have enough money to buy her groceries. She had 3 young kids with her and she was having to pick and choose what they would take off. I was living paycheck to paycheck at the time myself but felt so bad for her since she had kids.
Couple gets in line behind me and realize what’s going on. I hear them having a little convo and one of them asks to get by me real quick. Couple behind me paid for all her groceries and added a $200 gift card for future groceries.
She started crying, I started crying, and cashier got weepy. Definitely took that life example and have helped others when I can now too.
© whyamiawakeagain / Reddit
4.
I had a chaotic childhood. When I was 14 my mom called my dad to come pick me up and live with him after a fight we had. I hadn’t heard from my dad in over 6 months and for a long time I would just see him in random spurts or visits.
He came with my uncle, his twin, and picked me up. I fought with my dad on the way to his house, he sometimes felt like a stranger to me. When we got to the house, I stormed into the basement and cried been there for me like he should and that it hurts. He acknowledged things going on in my for a bit.
My uncle came down the stairs and told me he knows my dad hasn’t been there for me like he should and that it hurts. He acknowledged things going on in my home(s) that no one else would talk about. I needed to hear someone say it, but I was so hurt and not used to being spoken to kindly so I told him to go away or something.
He tried to hug me and I shoved him off me. He paused a moment and said, “You’re not used to being hugged are you?” Then wrapped me in a tight bear hug as I tried to push and squirm my way out. He squeezed me until I stopped fighting it and we just hugged for a while.
I’m tearing up just remembering that moment.
© tinyopeia / Reddit
5.
A couple years ago, my city had an extremely bad blizzard that knocked out the power for several days. One of the older neighbors asked my father to help him move some stuff for him for the evening. He even offered to pay him a couple hundred since it was going to be several hours of manual labor. My dad was confused, but obliged.
They went down to a storage locker that the old man owned and opened it to see a whole bunch of backup generators. They spent a while taking it back to our neighborhood and distributed them as best they could. That old man was so sweet, and I didn’t realize until typing this that I never caught his name.
6.
I (28, F) was going through a really bad few months and doing an even worse job pretending I wasn’t. I worked from home as a blog writer, barely went outside, and most days I couldn’t be bothered to cook anything. I found only comfort in loneliness.
My upstairs neighbor Mary noticed because I was living on delivery food and leaving the bags outside my door. One day she knocked and handed me a container of soup. I thanked her for her kindness and assumed that would be it.
The next evening she showed up with another container. Then some rice. Then pie. She never asked what was wrong and I never told her. She’d just knock, hand me something, and say, “I made too much.”
One night I finally told her she really didn’t need to keep doing it. She looked at me and said, “I know. I’m doing it because I want to.”
Bright Side
7.
A couple of years ago, we had a heat wave in May. I still lived with my parents at the time, who were very much “no A.C. until June” types. I told my boyfriend I was having trouble sleeping but I ordered a fan that was going to be delivered in a couple of days.
Later in the day, he texted me to “come outside.” There he was, with his fan, that he NEEDS. Seriously, this fan comes on vacation with us. He brought it over for me to borrow until my fan came in. He completely gave up his comfort for mine.
He is now my fiancé and we own a home together where we both have a fan on our sides of the bed.
© Background-Note-8126 / Reddit
8.
I had just lost my insurance and my epilepsy medication was over $400. The pharmacist got me some coupons that cut the price in half. She didn’t have to, and it was against company policy (I now work in a pharmacy in the chain) but she did it anyway.
© Microwave_7 / Reddit
9.
2 weeks after my dad passed, one of his old friends started calling me often. Honestly, I found it annoying at first. He kept asking things like if I ate or not, whether I went outside, what I was doing etc etc. I was 31. I didn’t need someone checking up on me like I was some teen.
One day I finally snapped and told him I was fine and he didn’t need to keep calling or act like my father. He said, “Okay. I’ll stop.”
Weeks went by and then I realized I had been waiting for the phone to ring. I had been mean to a person who just wanted to show me compassion and empathy. I called him myself. Apologized.
We talked for almost two hours. He told me my dad used to call him often after his own wife passed. He basically returned the kindness when I lost my father. He said my dad never let him spend too long alone with his thoughts and he wanted to do the same for me.
Bright Side
10.
The left side of my pants was ripped by my best friend when we were having fun in the classroom, resulting in other people seeing my underwear. My teacher advisor asked me to get the sewing box at the faculty room.
So while we were doing the Math exam, she made me sit with her on the right side of her table and sewed my pants. Thank you Mrs. Panopio! You deserve a long life of happiness! As a student, that was the best experience of my high school life.
© jxvicinema / Reddit
11.
My sister Lisa begged me to babysit her newborn “just for a bit”. 7 hours passed. I missed an urgent work meeting. She didn’t return or call. I was really mad.
Then her husband showed up looking pale. He handed me a large duffel bag. Said, “You deserve to know the truth.” I went numb. Inside was a stack of hospital papers, a phone charger, two changes of clothes, and baby formula. I was already shaking when her husband told me what was happening.
My sister hasn’t been well lately. They were running tests and expected bad news. She begged me to watch the baby because she knew she wouldn’t be able to take him with her, but she didn’t want to scare me before they knew what was happening.
The seven hours weren’t her ignoring me. Lisa was getting scans, talking to doctors, and trying to keep her husband from falling apart. Her husband apologized for letting me miss work and not being able to call in the whole mess. I told him to stop apologizing.
I ended up staying with the baby when my brother-in-law left to go back to the hospital in NYC. I took care of the baby, my own work, and also dropped off food for my sister and her husband. I mean, it was the least I could do.
My sister came home two days later and gave me the biggest teary-eyed hug. She was okay. Not completely okay, but okay. I drop by often to help her out in any way I can.