I found myself in one of those situations where I felt the world was heckling me. Every turn I made I bumped into a wall, stubbed my toe, or words failed me. The nights were short and days were long. No one seemed to notice I wasn’t walking on the same plane as they were. I was a few feet under, trying to appear at eye sight, and feeling like I was failing. One day I was in the drive thru at Starbucks. I choose the drive thru almost every time, this particular day I was 7 months pregnant and miserable.

I ordered the same thing I always do, it’s like hitting the auto-repeat button, “Hi there, I’ll have a grande, de-cafe, soy, latte, please.” My hands fondle the steering wheel and I pull up to the window only to hear that the person in front of me bought my drink. I looked at the cashier and thought I didn’t hear her correctly, so I squinted at her and tilted my head, one eye brow raised suspiciously.

She repeated that my drink was taken care of by the car in front of me. I said thank you and quickly turned to look for the car that was ahead of me. They were gone. That quickly. I pinched back a sob until two feet away from the window and then the crocodile tears fell, ugly and loud. Someone, a stranger, just did the nicest thing I had received in a very long time.

Mystery person, you caught me on the right day. I needed that like you wouldn’t have believed. Thank you!

Small acts of kindness can go a long way. This was well over a year ago and it’s still close to my heart.