Lindsey and I stopped in Kroger’s the other day to pick up few things. When we got in line to check out there was an older lady in front of us. She appeared to be in her seventies, I don’t really know for sure. The clerk gave the lady her total, forty dollars and some change. She swiped her card, as I put my items on the counter.
“There’s only twenty-one dollars on your card.” The clerk told the lady.
The older woman was befuddled and looked at the clerk blankly.
“What? What’s the most expensive thing?” She asked.
“Well, the produce.” The clerk told her
“Can you take that off?” The lady asked.
The clerk did, but still the lady was short.
“She doesn’t have enough money, Mommy,” Lindsey said quietly, standing in the buggy, watching everything.
Feeling embarrassed for the women and having been in her situation, I looked at Lindsey, then the clerk.
“Don’t take anything else off. I’ll pay the difference.” I said.
The woman turned to me and said, “But I can’t pay you back.”
“I don’t want you to pay me back. I’m happy to help.”
She moved over while I paid the clerk. She offered me a couple of bucks, which I refused.
“Thank you,” she said, looking in my eyes then shifting her gaze to the floor.
“You’re welcome,” I said smiling. “It’s not a big deal.”
She gathered her bags and left.
“That was so nice of you Mommy.” Lindsey announced proudly as she patted my shoulder, her smile wide.
It’s the little things that matter. Something so small as to help a stranger can make a huge difference in the life of another and not just for that stranger. I said it was no big deal and it wasn’t, but in the eyes of a five-year-old, helping that lady was as big as the sky.
Write On 
Such a warming story and a good lesson for a 5 year old…Proud of you…