My husband and I had had a rough year - new baby, new puppy (yes, we were ambitious/clearly don’t like to sleep), new jobs, and a big cross-country move. We were stressed, money was tight, and we had no time to ourselves. But my birthday was upcoming, and I wanted to feel a little special.

My husband reserved a new, hip restaurant at 5pm so baby could come, but we were nervous we might have needed to leave early. However, it was a magical meal: food was good, baby and I were having a ball dancing to the music, and my husband and I got to splurge on a few fancy drinks. It was the best evening we’d had in months.

When it was time to leave, the waiter said our dinner was paid for, which confused us - we’d never said it was my birthday, so no one could have known it was a special occasion. Turns out, a patron a few tables over saw us with the baby, and how we were clearly having a great time. He paid for our meal because it reminded him of the joys and hardships of being a young parent, and wanted to treat us to dinner. He had no idea how much it meant to us, especially with the timing of everything. This was a couple of years ago, and every birthday I think of this man, and hope he’s doing well.