This happened almost a year ago but I think about it a lot.

I was up in MN for work when my parent got the call for a heart transplant. I offered to come home but my family said i wouldn’t make it back on time and everything looked good to go and I’d see them when I got back in 2 weeks.

Well it went bad and they ended up being placed into a medical coma and on ECMO so I had to rush back. It was a 2 day drive back to TX and so I drove back to OK and stayed the night and got up at 330am the next day to try and rush to the hospital. I was exhausted and stopped at the first Starbucks I saw that was open.

There was only one car in front of me and no one behind me so the person wasn’t trying to start a “pay it forward” line or anything. I pulled up and they let me know the person in front of me paid for my coffee. I burst into tears.

It’s crazy - buying that coffee had nothing to do with the outcome of my parent’s surgery or recovery. But I really thought I was driving back to plan a funeral. When someone bought me that coffee I took that kind gesture as a sign that things were going to be OK. And while it was a long long stay in the hospital and a long road to recovery my parent survived. But it changed my entire outlook and gave me peace to make the rest of my trip safely.

They’ll never know what that cup of coffee meant to me or what that act of kindness did for me that day. And how much I leaned on those small acts during that time when any small positive thing that happened was a huge win. But I’ll always be grateful for that small gesture.