16 Heartwarming Stories That Prove a Little Sympathy Can Change Everything

When ordinary people decide to be the givers of miracles, goodness has a way of showing up right where we’re standing. From a kind word or a thoughtful act, these miracle givers gave the strangers below a memory they won’t be forgetting anytime soon.

• My mom was living with me and had Alzheimer’s. We were waiting our turn to pay before leaving the dentist office. She overheard another woman say she couldn’t afford the amount they had quoted for whatever she needed. My Mom, God rest her soul, asked me, “Do I have money?” I told her yes, and she said, “Okay, I want to pay for that ladies’ dental bill.”
  I had no idea who she was talking about because I hadn’t heard the conversation. The woman had gone to use the bathroom, but the young woman at the desk knew what my mom was referring to and said, “Her bill will be $275.” Without skipping a beat, my mom said, “Do I have enough money?” I said yes and she paid the bill. We left before she came, it was of the bathroom. My mom was so happy. © 3b1gplusgrb / Reddit
• I was having a really tough time in my new waitressing job, and on one shift, no one had bothered to tell me the table numbers had been changed, so I was unaware of the new seating plan. Taking food to the wrong tables, and getting frustrated no one seemed to know what was happening, my manager suddenly stormed out, grabbed the plates from me and shouted at me to go back in the kitchen and be useful for once.
  I was really upset, and felt so mortified as it was in front of a very busy restaurant/tearoom, and as my manager began to storm off, a little old lady stood up, told the manager what a piece of work she was and that she needed to buck up her ideas. She then came up to me, said I was doing a fine job, and gave me a proper nana hug. I could have cried. © Curious-Resource-962 / Reddit

• I was in an elevator all dressed up a couple of hours before my wedding. There was a guy who walked into the elevator, he looked at me and said, “Are you the groom?” I replied with, “Yeah.” Then he said, “You look calm, that means you’re doing the right thing.”
  And that’s exactly what I needed to hear to start off the best day of my life. Thank you, elevator guy. © TaliasMithevallir / Reddit
• My cat (Max) escaped from the house one night, and I didn’t even realize he got out until the next morning. I had just gone through an awful breakup, and I was sick with worry and guilt.
  At about 7 p.m. that evening, I got a knock on the door. A man asked if I was missing a cat. It turns out the man found Max after he’d been hit by a truck. He saw my cat laying in the road on the way to work, and stopped to see if he could do anything.
  He was an electrician with a full day of house visits, so he drove around with my cat in his car all day as he went through his work day. He kept Max warm, gave him water, and even split his ham sandwich with him. I asked how he could possibly know it was my cat (he’s a master at getting out of his collar, so didn’t have his tags when the man found him).
  Turns out, after his shift, he went door to door down the entire road where he found Max, asking if anyone was missing a cat. He said he loved cats, and would want someone to do the same for him. He went back to his cat and got my cat. The whole interaction lasted maybe 5 minutes, and I never even got his name.
  My cat made a full recovery, and is sleeping next to me as I write this, 8 years later. I wish I knew who this man was, and I could thank him properly, I’ll never forget it. © ArobaticAsparagus6 / Reddit

• I was traveling with my big 9 month old baby at the airport by myself. I made a huge mistake by forgetting his carrier at home. My husband decided that I should bring his more comfy stroller that has two parts to close down into. I was at the end of the jetway about to get on the plane. I’m holding my baby in my arms about to cry because I don’t know how I’m going to put the stroller in the stroller bag while holding my baby. I did not want to put him on the floor either. The nicest old man asked me if I needed help with getting the stroller in the bag. I actually did start crying because I was so thankful for his help. He told me that he would want someone to do this for his wife when she was my age. He also helped me put it back together after we got off the plane later. I’ll never forget him. © neurodiverge***tch22 / Reddit
• Our dog was hit by a car. A couple witnessed her get hit (did not hit her). They followed her to try and save her. After searching the woods, they could not find her.
  Another random person noticed these people and asked what they were looking for. After explaining to this man they were looking for an injured dog, the man offered his hunting dog to track her scent. The dog ended up leading this group of strangers to our dog. They called me and then wrapped her up, and we met at the nearest vet emergency room.
  After the shock of seeing our dog with a broken jaw and protruding eye, the couple said to us, “I know you are young, and I know what it’s like to be young, we can help pay for this.” The whole thing restored our faith in humanity. Our dog is alive and kicking after almost a year, but not without the complete kindness of strangers. © turnipsedith / Reddit

• I went to the store to buy my cat’s last meal... Her favorite wet food... She said I could just take it since it was 1 item. I was extremely broke, had my kid on my hip, and was going to be saying goodbye to my cat in 3 hours by myself, so I just teared up and thanked her and told her it was my cat’s last meal. And she came up and hugged me for a while and I cried a little. I don’t even cry in front of my family. But this woman gave me a safe space to be vulnerable. © Special_Cup_1375 / Reddit
• My first wife abandoned us when my son was an infant. It was rough, but I survived.
  One evening I was at dinner with some friends. I had to change the baby, there was no table in the men’s room. I asked a lady leaving the ladies room if it was empty, and she checked for me, gave me the okay. While I was trying to get my diaper bag sorted, she came up and offered to change him.
  I told her I had it, but she insisted, and put her arm around me. Apparently I’d been holding in a breakdown the whole time, and she saw right through it. I cried for a minute while a total stranger changed my infant son, thanked her profusely, and went back to dinner with my friends carrying a little less weight on my shoulders. No clue who she was, but she was an angel to me that night. © PrintError / Reddit

• This will sound silly but it makes me laugh! I work in education and work at both a middle and junior high school. Last year, I’m in the hallway during passing time, just standing there absentmindedly thinking of something else. I get approached by this kid who is not attached to my department (I’m a psychologist and work closely with the special education program). He comes up to me and looks me up and down.
  “Are you Batman??” He asks.
  I stare at him, trying to make a snap judgment as to whether this little shit is making fun of me. But he sounded as serious as a question like that is ever going to be.
  “No. I’m not Batman.” I say. (Which is exactly what Batman would likely say).
  He nods, his expression making his disappointment clear. “Oh... well, you look like Batman.” He says, before getting on his way to wherever kids like him are off to.
  So that was probably the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me.© The_Best_Yak_Ever / Reddit
• I’m a student who studies during daytime and works as a waitress at night. I moved from another town 3 months ago and haven’t made any friends yet. And yesterday my tooth broke. The pain was terrible, unbearable. I couldn’t afford a dentist.
  And so I’m working a shift, and every abrupt movement or loud sound literally explodes with pain. And then the other waiters on the shift come up to me and hand me an envelope, and there are all our tips for the shift in it. They said, “Here you go, baby! Go get your tooth fixed in the morning!” I even cried from this kindness. © Ward 6 / VK

• When I was in college, freshmen year, I was kind of in a funk talking to women. I guess that happens when you adjust from a small high school to a huge college. But I was more shy than I normally was. Well, I was at a party and caught a girl’s eye, and despite being shy, I summoned the courage to talk to her.
  What resulted was me being really embarrassed. I don’t recall exactly what happened, but it was along the lines of I said hi, and she said something like, “Try somewhere else, 3’s shouldn’t talk to 10’s.” I also remember her saying it really loud and a few guys nearby laughing loudly about it and going on to exclaim that I got rejected. Well, I walked to another room to escape and felt someone following me.
  I turn around to see literally the most beautiful woman I saw my entire 4 years of college. She went on to tell me that the girl I spoke to and her friends have been playing a game where they get guys to talk to them, then reject them, and that I should shrug it off. She told me to stick with her the rest of the night, and I’d be her “boyfriend.” She was a senior about to graduate, and I was just ending my first semester. But literally, that one act of kindness gave me my confidence back, and I dropped the newly acquired shyness that I had developed.
  I saw her a few times around campus after that, and she’d run up to me and give me a huge hug. That would be a great feeling for anyone to do it, let alone her! She even sent me messages throughout my time in college seeing how I was doing. © chuck_cascio / Reddit
• I was walking into a store with my husband once with an older couple in front of us. The gentleman held the door for us, I said thanks, and we went on our way. It was around Christmas time and the store was fairly busy. At one point the couple was in an aisle we needed down. He apologized and I told him no problem at all and to take his time. For some reason he reminded me of my grandpa. My grandpa passed a few years ago and I miss him so much, especially around the holidays. The man looks at me and asks if I’d like a rose. I didn’t know what he was talking about but said I’d love one. He pulled out a wooden rose about the size of my palm that he hand carved. He said he likes to carve them and hand them out to strangers to try and brighten their days. I turned it over and on the back was the mans name and the date he carved it. The date was my grandpas birthday. Took everything in me to not start crying. © Ahpla / Reddit

• When I was very young (probably 4) my mom and I got into a car accident at an intersection right off of a highway so it was pretty intense and traumatic. I don’t quite remember how, but we spun several times and ended up in a hotel parking lot. I was visibly distraught on the sidewalk while my mom dealt with the cops and her injuries. I had bought a lunchables with my Grandma that day as she was my babysitter and a police officer found it and tried to give it to me but then a family came from somewhere and helped me calm down and try to eat and be calm and I just remember how nice and helpful they were and it was almost angelic and it always makes me cry thinking about them. They’re just good southern people who helped. They saw a child, alone, crying, and did everything and more to be there for him. © Reggaeshark1001 / Reddit
• When I was a very young and pregnant girl living in the south, I was used to getting a lot of rude stares or comments about having a baby so young and out of wedlock, but one very old lady came up to me and handed me $20 and said, “Hey honey, here’s to help with diapers, they get pretty expensive. Best of luck to you.” That moment of kindness will stick with me forever. © coddiwomplek / Reddit

• When I was 16, I was going with my family to New York, and it was supposed to be really hot there. I hadn’t been on airplanes very often, and didn’t know I should dress warm, especially on long flights. I wore a pair of shorts and a T-shirt, and forgot to grab my sweatshirt out of my checked bag.
  It was a night flight, and I was freezing trying to sleep. Attendants never came by, and I didn’t know I could ask for a blanket. I was away from my family next to this older, foreign tourist couple, and tried to do my best to sleep while I was freezing. I woke up after a few hours, and realized I wasn’t as cold as I was before. I sat up and saw I had this hand-knitted shawl wrapped around my shoulders.
  The lady next to me must have seen the quizzical look on my face, as she then says in broken English, “You shake in sleep, I have this” pointing to the shawl. I thanked her profusely, and she says, “Go to sleep, he’s sleeping” pointing to her husband who had started to rouse. I fell back asleep for the rest of the flight and thanked her a million times more as we were getting off the plane. What a lovely woman. © scratpac4774 / Reddit

• One day while I was working at a fast food joint, this lady left her Louis Vuitton bag on a table. I waited about 20 minutes but remember seeing her leave, and so I grabbed it and put it in lost and found. I never once looked inside.
  A month went by. My boss said, “Hey, it’s been a month...do you want that bag?” I said sure and went in the back to retrieve it. I unzipped the top and to my surprise nothing was in it but a piece of paper. I opened up the piece of paper, and it was a receipt for the bag.
  On the receipt was a note saying, “To the girl who needed a new purse during the holidays.” Whoever this lady was intended on doing this in the first place. I looked at the receipt....$1700 for this bag!? I carefully put my items in it and took it home and didn’t say another word about it.
  That purse made me look good at a ton of job interviews. I still keep the bag because it reminds me of humbling days when I didn’t have much and reminds me to give back to others. © Katelyn Guzman / Quora

Behind everyday encounters lie hidden moments that reveal what truly matters most. These 12 stories will make you look twice.