I was waiting for my usual coffee at a Dunkin’ Donuts inside a gas station I visit often when I noticed a young boy wandering around. It was the middle of the morning, so he should have been in school. I wasn’t sure what to say or whether I should approach him.
A few minutes later, an older man walked in and began talking to the boy. I overheard him gently ask why he wasn’t in school. The boy explained that he had been bullied a lot because he acted differently from the other kids, and he couldn’t take it anymore, so he walked out and ended up at the gas station.
The man told him to pick his favorite donut, and the two of them sat at a table close to mine while I pretended to read my newspaper. The man then shared that his wife had recently passed away and that they had never been able to have children. Before she died, the two of them often volunteered at schools and shelters. He told the boy that he felt like he was meant to be there that day—that he usually never stopped for coffee, but something told him to stop today.
After the boy finished his donut, the man let him use his phone to call his mother. He stayed with the boy until she arrived. When she did, he simply stood up, wished them well, and left. He didn’t ask for money, didn’t give his name, and didn’t want anything in return. All he asked was for the boy and his mother to say a prayer for his late wife.
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