I was hanging out at my go-to Dunkin’ Donuts in a gas station, waiting for my daily coffee, when I spotted a young boy.
It was the middle of the morning, so I figured he should’ve been in school, but I wasn’t sure what to say.
As I watched him wander around the gas station, an older man walked in and struck up a conversation with him.
I could hear the man asking the kid why he wasn’t in school. The boy explained that he’d been bullied a lot for being different, which is why he had come to the gas station.
The older gentleman then told the boy to pick out his favorite donut, and they settled at a table near me while I read my paper. It turned out that the man had just lost his wife and didn’t have any kids of his own.
Before she passed away, he mentioned that they used to travel around volunteering at schools and shelters.
I heard him say he felt like he was meant to help the boy that day, especially since he usually never stops for coffee but felt compelled to today.
After the boy finished his donut, the gentleman let him use his phone to call his mom. He waited with the boy until she came to pick him up, and then he went on his way.
He wouldn’t accept any money or even share his name because he felt he was there to watch over that child, which he certainly did. All he wanted was for the boy and his mom to say a prayer for his late wife.