Nanci was living paycheck to paycheck, and most days the fridge held only condiments. While pumping away her last dollars at a gas station, the father of a good friend pulled in. He was a farmer and the driver’s education teacher at the high school. He jumped out of his truck and greeted her with his booming voice: “Hi! Do you like corn?”
“Uh, sure” she said hesitantly, not sure where this conversation was going.
He pointed to the back of his truck where he had just harvested some fresh sweet corn and was taking it to the corner stand. As the gas guzzled the last of her money, Mr. Bohen went on and on with instructions for how to make “the perfect loaded ear of corn” and proceeded to fill her car with countless ears of sweet corn. She went home, followed the instructions exactly, and ate the most delicious dinner she’d had in a while. She did the same thing the next day. And the next. And it helped her get through, fed until payday.
She ran into him again years later and told him how he’d unknowingly fed her for days and how he made such a difference in a struggle young adult’s life. He dismissed the kindness with a smile and laugh, which is what you can do when generosity is just a part of your daily life.
