On a freezing night, I found a pregnant teenage girl alone, bought her food, gave her my coat, and offered her the first kindness she had felt in a long time.
Before leaving, she gave me a cheap plastic ring, saying I would remember her someday, and I kept it close on a chain.
A year later, abandoned and pregnant myself, I ended up alone in a rundown motel, where the receptionist recognized the ring.
She revealed the girl was her niece, now safe with her baby—and reminded me that the kindness I gave had returned when I needed it most.