This happened today. Two friends and I had spent the weekend together and we were departing to return to our respective homes in different cities. One friend and I got into my car and the other friend got into hers and we went our separate ways.

I had gone a mile or two down the road (a lightly trafficked two lane highway) and was stopping at a light when all of a sudden a dark blue van pulled up close on the left side of me. A woman was inside honking her horn, and she and her daughter (I assume) were wildly gesturing for me to open my window. They were laughing as they yelled over to me that a pair of shoes had flown off the back of my car some ways back! (My friend quickly surmised that our other friend must have left her shoes on my car while we were packing up to leave.)

As the light was turning green we profusely thanked this woman and her daughter through our open windows for their great efforts to catch up to us. It was so very kind of them to go to this much effort to tell us about the flying shoes, and we were very touched.

So our heroes proceeded onward and I pulled off into a parking lot and turned around to retrace our path. I drove as slowly as traffic would allow as we scanned the road left to right hoping to spot our friend's shoes. We looked and we looked but we could find nothing. We were starting to wonder if we should give up and turn around when again we heard honking, and on the opposite shoulder of the road there was the same dark blue van! These angels had circled around and come back to the spot where they had seen the shoes land, knowing, I guess, that the odds of us being able to locate the missing shoes were very slim. I turned my car around again and pulled up behind them, and the daughter was already out of their van and was scrambling to pick up the shoes which she then proceeded to bring to us and hand to us as we remained in our car.

Can you imagine?! They went to all that trouble - twice! - for strangers that they would never know and never meet again, just to be kind. Just to be compassionate. Just to share a moment that felt so loving and thoughtful, and which I believe I will remember forever. We thanked them as best we could (remember we were on the shoulder of a narrow highway) and waved and honked our goodbyes, feeling connected to, and cared for by, two beautiful women who possibly have no idea the joy and increased faith in humanity they sparked in two other women today. Thank you to them. Your kindness will be carried with us and we will attempt to pass it forward.