I’ve had a really hard time lately feeling safe outside my home. We’ve been attacked by neighbors calling my Hispanic husband and half-Mexican / half-Irish kids racist names.

My daughter has been bullied at school to the point we have her in therapy now – which we are paying for out of our own pockets as much as I’d like the parents who raise the little monsters to be on the financial hook.

My health took a major decline a while back and I lost my ability to stand/walk so my 10 yr old was having to take care of me and her sister while her father was at work. Despite living in an allegedly close knit community that does everything possible to be there for those in need that help doesn’t exist for families like ours. Thankfully I’m a lot better now but I still can’t run and still have neighbors who like to let their dogs loose on our property as we’re trying to get from the house to the car.

We regularly spend weekends in another major city where we’re safer or take road trips to other parts of the state where there are more people like us so we can have a break from having to watch our backs 24/7. It gets tiring – and expensive. I’d just like to be able to be home without worrying what will happen to my kids if they go outside.

So I was venting to a friend recently about how much it sucks to be surrounded by so much hate or indifference and she told me to pretend I was God.

I promise whatever you’re thinking right now can’t match what went through my head LOL!

She explained she was talking about that story in the Bible where Abraham makes God promise not to destroy the town if he can find good people. So her point was I need to try and think about any time I’ve come across good people – who I would’ve held up as proof that good still exists somewhere in humanity so I shouldn’t give up hope.

That reminded me of a story from Christmas 2018…..

I’d been having a rough time but trying to keep up a positive attitude hoping it’d make things better.

On 21 December 2018 I finally lost it.

One of my neighbors tried to crash into my car as we were driving out of the neighborhood. I was in the passenger seat and it was only due to my husband’s quick skills I’m not in a hospital since they were headed for a very hard/fast collision into the passenger side – MY SIDE!

Intimidation has been coming in all forms since a certain person became president.

Then I was run off the road that night because going 50 in a 45 on an unlit back country road pissed someone off. It is Texas after all; these people do 90 on a 70/mph freeway and will try to kill you for going slower than them in a left lane.

Being nearly killed on a dark road didn’t satisfy the universe’s funny bone so next I fell in a parking lot landing flat down getting cigarette butts, trash and leaves in my hair only to have the man walking to his car, parked next to me, stand there and laugh while making jokes at my expense.

I gathered my bruised body and broken dignity to finish walking into the Fort Worth Spec’s liquor store where I was trying to pick up a requested present for someone. No good deed goes unpunished right?

I couldn’t find the specific vodka that was wanted so I asked a staff member for help who acted visibly irritated with me, huffed in frustration, walked off to the aisle, goes part way, points in a general direction and says “It’s the one with the star” then walks off. I go back to searching bottles with stars on them. It’s FREAKING TEXAS! Do you know how many bottles have stars on them in TEXAS?! Enough that I’m making a point of this.

After finally finding it my emotions are shot so I decided to pick myself up some Irish.

I get to the checkout lane and I’m guessing my loss of faith in humanity is playing all over me because he turns, smiles and tells the cashier he’s going to pay for me too.

At first I didn’t understand and even said “No one does this” to which he responded “More people should help one another out”.

He gave me a hug and we stood there for a moment. He let me hold onto him like I was a drowning person holding a lifesaver then I felt the tears I’d been holding back fall.

I was so stunned I didn’t get his name or contact info but I got this pic so I could send my husband proof maybe good people do exist.

I’m so grateful for this man who showed a stranger kindness when it was desperately needed and pray fervently the universe found a way to reward him.

Here I am a year and some later, still remembering the kindness a stranger showed me. I never was able to find out his name and despite posting information about this encounter to Spec’s hoping they could find a way to reward him I never heard back from them.

I’m hoping the universe did in fact bless him somehow and maybe someday he can find out that the hug he gave a broken woman rippled across time and saved her again.