Sometimes the most random everyday encounters force us to stop and
rethink the truths and perceptions we have ingrained in our minds. These
encounters are educationally priceless. They spawn moments of deep thought
and self-reflection that challenge the status quo and help us evolve as
sensible individuals.
Below you will find a selection of 99 tiny, thought-provoking life
stories recently submitted to our sister site,
Makes Me Think (MMT). These are simple, powerful, real life
stories written by the people who lived them.
- Today, it’s been ten years since my abusive ex-fiancé sold my
favorite guitar. He sold it on the day I left him. When I went to claim
my belongings, he was proud that he had sold it to a pawn shop. Luckily,
I managed to track down the guy who bought it from the pawn shop. He was
really sweet, and gave it back to me for free, on the condition that I
accompany him on his front porch for an hour to play guitar with him. He
grabbed a second guitar and we ended up sitting there on his porch for
the rest of the afternoon playing music, talking, and smiling. He’s been
my husband for nine years now. MMT - Today would have been the 127th day in a row that I visited her at
the hospital as she rested in a coma. But last night I had a dream that
she died, and I woke up in tears this morning and couldn’t bring myself
to drive to the hospital to see her lying there like that. So I stayed
in bed, staring at the ceiling, and thinking of how I was going to have
to learn to live without her for the rest of my life. And then my phone
rang, and it was her. MMT - Today, about an hour after I lost my wallet, a man showed up at my
front door with it. Everything was intact including the $200 in cash. As
I expressed my gratitude, he explained to me that he hopes doing the
right thing pays off for him. “Oddly enough, I lost my wallet sometime
this morning too,” he said. “I had about the same amount of cash in
there that you have and all my cards and IDs.” Without thinking about
it, I pulled out $100 and handed it to him. “Take this, I insist,” I
said. “Just in case you don’t find your wallet, we’ll split the cash.”
He gratefully accepted the money and left. This evening he knocked on my
door again. “Here’s your $100 back,” he said. “A woman found my wallet
and returned it and all my cash about an hour ago.” MMT - Today, while I was browsing in a secondhand bookshop, I found a copy
of a book that had been stolen from me when I was a kid. I opened it and
saw, on the first page, in familiar hand writing, my own name. It had
been a gift from my (now late) grandfather. Next to my name my
grandfather wrote, “I hope you rediscover this book someday when you’re
older, and it makes you think about the important things in life.” MMT - Today, a week after I donated three bags of clothes to a local
homeless shelter, I saw a homeless woman sitting on a park bench wearing
a tye-dye shirt I made when I was a teenager.
I walked by her and said, “I love your shirt!” She smiled and said,
“Thank you! I really do too!” MMT - Today at 7AM, I pulled over on my way to work to help a lady change
a flat tire. At 4PM, she saved my life when she randomly saw me downtown
and yanked me backward out of a crosswalk as a car ran the red light.
MMT - Today, it’s been five years since my mom was in a car accident that
resulted in her losing all of her long-term memory from before the
crash. When I was little, my mom and I used to quote a ‘Winnie the Pooh’
book as an inside joke. One of us would ask, “Have you ever seen a
dragon fly?” And the other would reply, “I have, I have seen a dragon
fly!” This evening I was sitting with her while we were watching TV and
I randomly asked, “Have you ever seen a dragon fly?” And she responded
with, “I have, I have seen a dragon fly!” We stared at each other for a
prolonged moment, and then she jumped out of her seat and exclaimed, “Oh
my god, I remember!” MMT - Today, I have a disorder which frequently makes me faint for a few
seconds, making it hard for me to be independent and hold down a steady
job. I used to be really depressed about it, but my family and friends
turned my illness into a game, seeing who could make me laugh the
hardest when I returned to consciousness. They have also turned catching
me into a sport. Believe it or not, I haven’t hit the floor once in the
past two years. Someone has always been there to catch me. MMT - Today was my first day back on the job after more than a year on
disability leave due to a freak explosion in the plant that, among other
injuries, left me legally deaf in both ears. When I walked into the
plant this morning several of my colleagues signed me phrases like
“Great to see you,” “Welcome back,” and “We missed you.” It turns out
that nine of my colleagues got together and took a sign language course,
just like I did, over the last several months. They did this so they
could easily communicate with me when I returned. Their compassion MMT. - Today, I am an Iraq and Afghanistan veteran. Upon arriving home
three years ago from my final tour to Afghanistan I found out that my
wife had been cheating on me and had spent/stole almost all of our
money. I had nowhere to stay and no phone and was suffering from severe
anxiety problems. One of my close friends from high school, Shawn, and
his wife, seeing that I was in need of help, took me in and let me live
with their family of five. They helped me deal with my divorce and get
my life together. Since then, I’ve moved into my own place, opened a
fairly successful diner, and my friend’s kids call my Uncle Jay when
they see me. The way they adopted me into their family in my desperate
time of need will always MMT. - Today, I have been a counselor for foster care children for almost
15 years. This afternoon I ran into one of my previous foster children I
hadn’t seen in over 5 years. About 10 years ago, on a day he was really
upset and mad at life, I drew him a sketch of a superhero and wrote him
a note on an index card about how he is a superhero and that superheroes
always rise up and win in the end. I saw him today as I walked past the
local fire station. He’s now a fire fighter. He recognized me as I
walked by and ran up to me. We talked for about a half hour, and then
before we parted ways he took his wallet out of his pocket and pulled
out the superhero index card I made for him when he was a kid. MMT - Today, I have diabetes. Two years ago, after my mom passed away, I
inherited her cat, Kita. At 3AM this morning Kita woke me up by sitting
at the foot of the bed and meowing VERY loud over and over again. I had
never heard her sound that way, so I sat up in bed to see what was
wrong. As soon as I did, I realized I felt extremely lightheaded and
weak. I grabbed my glucose meter and tested myself. My level was down to
53. Normal, according to my doctor, is between 70 and 120. My doctor
told me that had Kita not awakened me, I may have never awakened at all.
MMT - Today, we live in a lower-middle-class neighborhood. My wife was
just diagnosed with breast cancer, so my 14-year-old son decided that he
wanted to raise money to help pay for some of her miscellaneous medical
expenses. His idea was to go door to door around the neighborhood with
battery operated hair clippers and let people shave a part of his head
for a small donation of their choosing. He asked me whether a $100 goal
would be too much. I told him not to get his hopes up. He came back home
ten minutes ago with a totally bald head and $1,223. Two people gave him
$100 bills. MMT - Today, it’s been ten years since my best friend became ill and
needed a kidney transplant. As I was a fitting donor, I chose to donate
one of my healthy kidneys to her even after doctors said her chance of
survival was only 30%, and that there would be inherent risks to my
health as well. But here I am at 10AM, getting ready to drive to her
wedding venue where, in just a few short hours, I will be her maid of
honor as she marries the love of her life who she happened to meet at
the hospital ten years ago. MMT - Today, I was buying food at the grocery store for my family, but at
the checkout counter my debit card came back declined for
over-withdrawal. (I’ve been laid off from work for awhile now and am
barely making ends meet.) As I quickly explained myself to the cashier
and started putting back some of the food I had picked out, the man in
line behind me stepped forward and paid for all my groceries. I thanked
him, and he said, “Someone did the same thing for me several years ago.
This is my opportunity to pay it forward. I hope you can do the same
someday.” MMT - Today, exactly 10 months after suffering from a severe stroke that
nearly killed him, my dad got up from his wheelchair without any help
for the first time, and slow danced with me during the father/daughter
dance at my wedding. MMT - Today, a big stray dog randomly followed me from the subway on my
walk home. For about six blocks he followed just a few paces behind me.
And just as this began to freak me out, a guy came out of nowhere, held
a knife up to my face, and yelled, “Give me your purse!” Before I had a
chance to react, the stray dog lunged at the man and bit his leg. He
dropped the knife and fell to the ground as I ran away. I am now at
home, safely, because of that dog. MMT - Today my son, who I adopted eight months ago at the age of seven,
called me ‘mom’ for the very first time. MMT - Today, I’m a police officer stationed at the state court house. This
afternoon the judge finalized a case in which a 3-year-old boy was
officially adopted by his late mom’s best friend two years after the
boy’s parents and grandparents died in a car accident. The boy has been
living with his mom’s best friend ever since the accident, and he treats
her as if she is his real mom. Once the adoption was approved, everyone
in the courtroom was smiling. But before the judge had a chance to slam
the gavel and dismiss everyone, the boy ran up to the judge and asked if
he could do it. The judge laughed and nodded yes. So, smiling ear to
ear, the boy sat on the judge’s lap, looked up at everyone in the
courtroom, slammed the gavel, and finalized his own adoption. MMT - Today, my 17 year old autistic brother, Kevin, played guitar and
sang every single word, flawlessly, to the Lifehouse song ‘Hanging by a
Moment’ for his girlfriend (who is also autistic) on their one year
anniversary. His girlfriend’s smile lit up the room. Although he
struggles with a severe speech impediment, he has been practicing for
this every single day since they first started dating. MMT - Today, at the local convenience store where I work an elderly man
with a guide dog came in, went to the aisle with the greetings cards,
picked up a card, held it up extremely close to his face, and struggled
to read it. Just as I was about to walk over to help him, a big truck
driver asked him if he needed assistance reading, and then proceeded to
read him almost every single greeting card out loud until the elderly
man smiled and said, “That’s perfect! My wife will love that one!” MMT - Today, when I landed at J.F.K. for a business trip, I turned on my
phone and was inundated with several voicemails and text messages from
family and close friends back in Seattle. “Call home. Your mom had a
severe stroke and is currently in intensive care,” read the first text
message to pop-up on my phone. My boss was with me, told me she’d handle
things herself, and insisted that I catch the next flight back home. As
I stood in line at the ticket counter, talking to my brother about my
mother’s condition, crying, and explaining that I was going to try to
make a flight that leaves in 30 minutes, the twelve people in line in
front of me overheard my conversation and let me skip to the front. Then
after the Delta rep quickly issued me a ticket, she walked around the
counter, handled me a box of tissues, and before I had a chance to
react, gave me a big hug. I made my flight. And my mom is now in stable
condition. MMT - Today, a deaf-mute child I have been caring for 5 days a week for
the last 4 years looked up at me this afternoon after I fed him his
favorite lunch and spoke aloud to me for the first time. He said, “Thank
you, Monica. I love you.” MMT - Today, the man that saved my life 28 years ago when he
singlehandedly fought off three other men who were trying to rape me,
walks with a cane due to the leg injury he suffered by doing so. And he
looked so proud today when he put down his cane and slowly walked our
daughter down the aisle. MMT - Today, outside the doctor’s office, approximately 15 minutes after
we received the discouraging news about my incurable cancer, she got
down on one knee and asked me to marry her. MMT - Today, my dad is the best dad I could ask for. He’s a loving husband
to my mom (always making her laugh), he’s been to every one of my soccer
games since I was 5 (I’m 17 now), and he provides for our family as a
construction foreman. This morning when I was searching through my dad’s
toolbox for a pliers, I found a dirty folded up paper at the bottom. It
was an old journal entry in my dad’s handwriting dated exactly one month
before the day I was born. It reads, “I am eighteen years old, an
alcoholic who is failing out of college, a past cutter, and a child
abuse victim with a criminal record of auto theft. And next month, ‘teen
father’ will be added to the list. But, I swear I will make things right
for my little girl. I will be the dad I never had.” And I don’t know how
he did it, but he did it. MMT - Today, I have an elderly patient who is suffering from a severe case
of Alzheimer’s. He can rarely remember his own name, and he often
forgets where he is and what he said just a few minutes beforehand. But
by the stretch of some miracle (perhaps the miracle of love), he
remembers who his wife is every morning when she shows up to spend a few
hours with him. He usually greets her by saying, “Hello my beautiful
Kate.” MMT - Today, I’m a teacher in a low income neighborhood in greater
Detroit. Because their parents don’t have enough money, some of my
students come to school without lunch, or without money for lunch. So I
lend them a few dollars here and there to buy a school lunch when they
are short on cash. I’ve been doing this for several years, and other
teachers think I’m crazy. But of the few hundred dollars I’ve lent
students over the years, I have received every single cent back.
Sometimes it takes them a few weeks, but every one of my students has
paid me back without me asking. MMT - Today, when my wife showed up to do a 5K walk in support of her
breast cancer, over 200 of her current and past students (she’s a high
school English teacher) and several of her colleagues showed up,
unexpectedly, wearing pink shirts with her photo and a caption that
read, “We’re going to beat this together.” I’ve never seen my wife so
overwhelmed with joy before in my life. MMT - Today, my cat got out of my downtown condo and got lost. I was sad
because I figured I’d never see her again. About 24 hours after I posted
flyers on telephone poles in the city I received a call from a man who
found my cat. It turned out the man was homeless and used 50 cents to
call me from a payphone. He was insanely nice and even bought a can of
food for my cat. I gave the man all the cash I had on me as a reward.
MMT - Today, my brother spends most of his free time at school hanging out
with the football team – he’s actually been working out with the team
and everything. My brother has a mild case of autism. About a year ago
my mom was ready to pull my brother out of school and have him home
schooled due to excessive teasing from peers. One of the popular
football players, who had stood up for him in the past, heard about
this, explained the situation to his teammates and friends, and stood by
his side until the teasing stopped. Now, a year later, he’s just ‘one of
the guys.’ MMT - Today, almost 5 years after I stopped volunteering at the suicide
prevention hotline, the new manager gave me a call. She said this
afternoon they received a $25,000 anonymous donation to help fund the
support line. Along with the donation they received an email that read,
“Thank you Claire. You saved my life.” Apparently, I’m the only Claire
who ever volunteered there. MMT - Today, a homeless man whom I recognize from around the neighborhood
came into my bakery and purchased a large birthday cake (I gave him a
40% discount). I curiously watched as he walked the cake across the
street to another homeless man. The other man started laughing and then
the two men hugged. MMT - Today, I watched a teenage boy help an elderly woman with a cane
onto the city bus I was riding. He was so careful with her, assisting
her every step of the way. The woman had the biggest smile on her face.
They both sat directly across from me, and just as I was about to
compliment her on having a wonderful grandson, the boy looked at her and
said, “My name is Chris. What’s your name, ma’am?” MMT - Today, I stopped on the side of the road to help an elderly man who
was struggling with changing a flat tire. It turns out he was the
firefighter who pulled my mom and me out of our burning apartment when I
was a kid. Even though I hadn’t seen him in 30 years, it only took me a
few seconds to recognize him. We chatted about it for awhile, and then
as soon as I had the spare tire secured to his car, we looked at each
other, shook hands and said, “Thank you,” simultaneously. MMT - Today, my grandmother and grandfather, who were both in their early
90’s and married for 72 years, both died of natural causes approximately
one hour apart from each other. MMT - Today, my father had a serious heart attack in the waiting room at
the hospital as my wife was giving birth to our first child. My father
was waiting to welcome his first grandchild into the world. The doctors
say he likely would have died if he wasn’t already at the hospital with
medical care a few seconds away. But based on the lucky circumstances,
he’s expected to make a full recovery. MMT - Today, I witnessed a bad car accident at an intersection. An older
drunk male with no headlights ran a light and hit a teenager’s car. The
drunk driver’s car caught fire. Then the teenager, covered in blood,
struggled out of his car, jogged to the burning vehicle and pulled the
drunk driver to safety just before the cab of the vehicle burst into
flames. MMT - Today, I texted my supervisor to tell him I wouldn’t be able to come
into work today due to the fact that I’m in the emergency room with my
dad after he had a heart attack. I got a response saying I had the wrong
number. But then a few minutes later the person called me, told me her
prayers are with me and my dad, and then told me a story about how her
dad made a full recovery from a heart attack last year. We spoke for a
half hour and she made me feel better. People like her who convey
unrelenting compassion and goodwill MMT. - Today, after my daughter’s funeral I was going through my phone
deleting all the condolence messages. There were so many of them that I
simply selected ‘delete all,’ but one message didn’t delete. It was the
last message my daughter left me before she passed and it was marked as
‘new.’ Sometimes my voicemail forces me to listen to messages before I
can delete them, so played it. She said, “Hey dad, I just wanted to let
you know I’m okay and I’m home now.” MMT - Today, I walked up to the door of my office (I’m a florist) at 7AM
to find a uniformed Army soldier standing out front waiting. He was on
his way to the airport to go overseas for a year. He said, “I usually
bring home a bouquet of flowers for my wife every Friday and I don’t
want to let her down when I’m away.” He then placed an order for 52
Friday afternoon deliveries of flowers to his wife’s office and asked me
to schedule one for each week until he returns. I gave him a 50%
discount because it made my day to see something so sweet. MMT - Today, my high school boyfriend, who I thought I’d never see again,
showed me the pictures of the two of us he kept in his Army helmet while
he was overseas for the last 8 years. MMT - Today, a 9-year-old patient of mine will be undergoing her 14th
surgery in the past 2 years to combat a rare form of cancer. Even after
all the surgeries I’ve never seen her frown. She’s still 100% sure
she’ll survive. And I’m certain her attitude is the primary reason she
has survived to this point. She still laughs and plays with her friends
and family. She has intelligent goals for the future. A kid like her who
can go through everything she’s been through and come out smiling MMT. - Today, during a fire evacuation at school, I ran outside to find one
of the thugs at our school, who is notorious for being a tough guy,
holding my little sister’s hand (she’s a special needs student) and
telling her, “You’re okay. You’re safe,” and calming her down as she
slowly stopped crying. MMT - Today, in the background over the phone, I heard my 7-year-old son
ask my wife, “If daddy’s job is going so well, how come he’s never home
here with us?” MMT - Today, when the chief ordered the firefighters to evacuate the
building due to “extremely hazardous conditions,” I began to panic even
more. My daughter was still trapped inside. But one fire fighter didn’t
listen to the orders. Instead he ran around to another apartment unit
that borders the other side of our unit, went out onto the balcony,
jumped over to our balcony, smashed through the sliding glass door with
an axe, and brought my daughter out alive. MMT - Today, I was one of the paramedics on the scene where a professional
skydiving instructor died due to a parachute failure. As we loaded the
man’s body into the back of the ambulance, I noticed his t-shirt. It
said, “I died doing what I love.” MMT - Today, six months after his passing, I flew from Austin, Texas to
Melbourne, Australia to clean out my brother’s overseas condo and
finalize its sale. As you might imagine, the entire experience was a sad
one. But one thing that jumped out at me was my brother’s desk planner.
Two weeks before he passed he crossed out a 9-day vacation on his
calendar with a note saying, “Not enough time, maybe next month.” MMT - Today, as my grandpa rested in his hospital bed, desperately
fighting pancreatic cancer, he squeezed my hand tight and said, “Promise
me, no matter how good or bad you have it, you will wake up every
morning thankful for your life. Because every morning you wake up,
someone somewhere else will be desperately fighting for theirs.” MMT - Today, after an 11 month tour of duty in the Army, my husband has
been home from Afghanistan for 9 days. During a heavy rain storm this
morning at 4AM, following a loud crack of thunder, my husband jumped out
of bed, half asleep, and onto the floor and screamed, “Get down! Get
down!” MMT - Today, I told my 18 year old grandson that nobody asked me to prom
when I was in high school, so I didn’t attend. He showed up at my house
this evening dressed in a tuxedo and took me as his date to his prom.
MMT - Today, I watched in horror through the kitchen window as my
2-year-old slipped and fell head first into the pool. But before I could
get to her, our Labrador Retriever, Rex, jumped in after her, grabbed
her by her shirt collar and pulled her to the shallow steps where she
could stand. MMT - Today I turned 10. Yes I was born on 9-11-2001. My mom worked in the
World Trade Center but wasn’t at work that day because she was giving
birth to me. MMT - Today, after several kids teased a less fortunate girl (who lives in
a poorer neighborhood) this morning for always wearing the same clothes,
seven students in my class went home at lunch time, emptied their
drawers and closets and brought this girl 16 pristine and beautiful
outfits to wear. I found out about this after I asked her why she
changed her clothes after lunch today. MMT - Today, I was sitting on the steps of a church waiting for a bus when
I saw an old Catholic nun being assisted up the steps by a young man
wearing a Muslim turban. Once they were at the top, the nun turned to
the young man and said, “I can see both of our gods raise beautiful
children. Thank you.” The young man smiled and nodded. MMT - Today, our high school basketball team has a senior player who uses
a wheelchair. He lost both of his legs from the knee down in a car crash
when he was a sophomore. He was one of the best basketball players on
the team at the time, so the coach insisted that he stay on the team to
help coach the other players. He’s now the assistant coach, but he’s
also the designated free throw shooter for injured players. When a
player gets injured during a foul and can’t immediately shoot the foul
shots, he rolls out to the foul line and takes the shots for the injured
player. I’ve never missed a home game, and I’ve never seen him miss a
shot. MMT - Today, I paid my landlord back in full. Ten months ago I lost my job
and couldn’t cover my rent for two months. Instead of putting my son and
I on the streets, my landlord said, “You’ve been a good tenant for ten
years and I know times are tough. Take your time, find another job, and
pay me back as soon as you can.” MMT - Today at 5AM, I asked an elderly man in the city where the nearest
train stop was. He walked me to it and then waited next to me for 15
minutes. When the train finally arrived, he smiled and said, “Be safe
out there, miss.” and then walked away without boarding the train. MMT - Today, I was in a taxi on my way to work in Chicago when my blood
glucose level suddenly dropped and I passed out. The taxi driver used
all the tricks of his trade to get me to the hospital as quickly as
possible. Apparently, he cut through a small park and drove over a
median to get me there before it was too late. I know this because after
I woke up, my nurse told me that my taxi driver “saved my life” and
“physically carried me into the emergency room waiting area,” followed
by a police officer who was after him for the said traffic violations.
But then, my nurse said, “After the taxi driver explained himself, the
police officer shook his hand and left.” MMT - Today, two Orphan children (a boy and a girl) I used to care for
years ago when they were teenagers are now married, are the owners of a
successful marketing firm, own the home across the street from me, and
have two beautiful children. And although I never officially adopted
them, their two children call me ‘Grandma.’ MMT - Today, I re-read the suicide letter I wrote on the afternoon of
September 2nd 1996 about two minutes before my girlfriend showed up at
my door and told me, “I’m pregnant.” She was honestly the only reason I
didn’t follow through with it. Suddenly I felt I had a reason to live.
Today she’s my wife. We’ve been happily married for 14 years. And my
daughter, who is almost 15 now, has two younger brothers. I re-read my
suicide letter from time to time as a reminder to be thankful – I am
thankful I got a second chance. MMT - Today, and every day for the last two months since I returned to
school with burn scars on my face after being hospitalized for nearly a
month for injuries I sustained in a house fire, a red rose was taped to
my locker when I got to school in the morning. I have no clue who is
getting to school early and leaving me these roses. I’ve even arrived
early myself a few times to try to figure it out, but each time the rose
was already there. MMT - Today, as we were eating lunch at a diner my boyfriend leaned over
and gave me a kiss on the cheek every few minutes when someone walked
by. When I noticed what he was doing, I asked why. He said, “I want them
to know you’re my girl.” We’re both in our mid-70’s and lost our spouses
to cancer about 10 years ago. Second chances at love MMT. - Today, my sister, who has Down Syndrome, followed through with her
plan to sing at the school talent show. She’s been practicing her song
diligently every afternoon for the last month, but it still worried me.
I was terrified by the thought of how the students in the audience would
respond to her. I just felt like there was a strong chance they would be
mean. But they weren’t. In fact, she was the only act that received a
standing ovation the entire night. MMT - Today, two years after I was told I would never walk again, I got up
out of my wheelchair and took my first few unassisted steps into my
wife’s arms. MMT - Today, one of my regular customers, an elderly man who has been
eating in our diner every morning for the better part of 5 years, left
me $500 in cash for his $7 breakfast. With the money, he left a small
note that said, “Thank you, Cheryl. Your smile and hospitable service
over the years gave me something to look forward to every morning after
my wife passed. I’m moving to Long Island this evening to live with my
son and his family. May the rest of your life be magical.” MMT - Today, I unbuckled my seatbelt (I’m passionate about wearing my
seatbelt) for two seconds so I could reach a printed map and directions
sitting on the other side of the passenger seat. Just as I leaned over
to grab it, I hit a big bump in the road and then my windshield
shattered as a steel pipe that was hanging on the work truck driving in
front of me shot, like a missile, through my windshield and directly
into the center of the driver’s seat. I slammed on the brakes and
crawled out of the passenger door. The cops that arrived at the scene
couldn’t believe it either – there was an 8 foot steel pipe embedded
into the driver’s seat, and it didn’t touch me. MMT - Today, one of the football players at our school (who stands about
6’5) broke out in tears of joy and exclaimed, “Dad!” as he ran into his
father’s arms in the middle of our Algebra II class. His father just
returned home from Afghanistan early and came over to the school to
surprise his son. MMT - Today, I am a corporate accountant for a privately held chain of
restaurants in the mid west. Our company employs several hundred people.
The economic downturn has had a noticeable effect on the number of
customers eating in our restaurants, but not a single employee has been
laid off. But what our employees don’t know is that the owner hasn’t
written himself a paycheck in six straight months. MMT - Today, I was sitting on a park bench eating a sandwich I made myself
for lunch when an elderly couple pulled their car up under a nearby oak
tree. They rolled down the windows and turned up some jazz music on the
radio. Then the man got out of the car, walked around to the passenger
side, opened the door for the woman, took her hand and helped her out of
her seat, guided her about ten feet away from the car, and they slow
danced for the next half hour under the oak tree. MMT - Today, I took a cab ride 16 blocks in Manhattan and when I got to my
destination I realized I forgot my wallet at home. As I fumbled through
my purse, trying to explain things to the cab driver and scrounge up
enough cash, a man walked up behind me and handed me a $50 bill. “Thank
you!” I said. “Let me have your address. I will pay you back.” He
reached into his pocket, pulled out an old receipt and wrote down an
address. “You can drop off my money here,” he said. This afternoon I
went to the address he gave me and found myself standing in front of a
soup kitchen that had a sign out front that said, “Accepting cash
donations to feed the hungry.” I walked in and donated the $50. MMT - Today, I’m a 3rd shift IT guy for a finance company in NYC. This
evening I was updating our VPN server at 3AM when I noticed an employee
was actively logged in. I got suspicious and I accessed their account on
the backend to see what they were doing. They had just sent a suicide
note in an email entitled “Thank you and goodbye.” I immediately looked
up their home address in our corporate directory and called 911. This
person’s son called me at 7AM, just before I got off my shift, to thank
me and inform me that his mother is in stable condition in the hospital.
MMT - Today was the 10 year anniversary of my dad’s passing. When I was a
kid he used to hum a short melody to me as I was going to sleep. When I
was 18, as he rested in his hospital bed fighting cancer, the roles were
reversed and I hummed the melody to him. I haven’t heard that melody
since and almost completely forgot about it until last night. My fiancé
and I were lying in bed. We were turned on our sides looking at each
other when he started humming the melody to me. He said his mom used to
hum it to him when he was a kid. MMT - Today, after my dad ran out of options to come up with enough money
to pay our mortgage he decided to sell his pristine 1969 Camaro that he
restored and has babied for as long as I can remember. A wealthy local
collector came to look at it this afternoon. When he realized how
passionate my dad was about the car, he asked, “Why are you selling it?”
My dad told him and then the collector handed my dad cash for the car
and said, “Here’s $5k in cash. I have the rest in my trunk. I’ll be
right back.” The collector walked out our front door, got in his car and
drove away. MMT - Today, my little brother’s internet start-up was purchased for
$12,000,000. My brother is 17 years younger than me. Our parent’s passed
away in a car accident while I was babysitting him 17 years ago. I was
18 at the time and he was 1. I took legal guardianship of him and worked
two jobs for 16 years to make sure he had every opportunity in the
world. He started his company at 18 just after he graduated high school.
It took off like wildfire. This evening, he transferred $1,000,000 into
my retirement savings account. MMT - Today, a young teenage boy was in line in front of me at Target. He
used a gift card to buy two video games. The cashier, an older woman
probably in her late 60’s, rang him up and informed him that he had $12
remaining on his gift card. “Oh, wait then,” he said as he ran two isles
over and grabbed a $10 bouquet of flowers. As the cashier added the
flowers to his order the boy handed them to her and said, “These are for
you.” The cashier could not wipe the smile off her face, even after he
left. MMT - Today, it’s been almost four months since my son’s seven-year-old
dog, Grover, got lost at a crowded fair on the outskirts of Orlando,
Florida. We were on a family vacation visiting my husband’s parents. We
searched for him everywhere, put up flyers all over the city – the whole
nine yards. Nothing. My son was devastated. This afternoon, Grover
showed up at our front door in Austin, Texas all by himself. MMT - Today, a woman in my line at McDonald’s noticed the uniformed Marine
in line behind her, and when she handed me $20 to pay for her meal, she
said, “Keep the extra $12 and use it to pay for the Marine’s meal.” When
the Marine got up to the counter and ordered his food, I informed him
that it was already paid for by another customer. He stared at me for a
second, then turned his head and glanced out the front window, handed me
his cash anyway and said, “Okay, make it two #4 meals then.” On the way
out of the restaurant he handed the second meal to a homeless man who
was resting on the sidewalk. MMT - Today, losing my infant son was the worst pain I have ever felt. But
the phone call I just received from the doctor telling me my baby’s
organs instantly saved two other baby’s lives MMT. - Today, my father found my little sister alive, chained up in a barn.
She was abducted near Mexico City almost 5 months ago. Authorities
stopped actively searching for her a few weeks later. My mother and I
laid her soul to rest. We even had a funeral for her last month. All of
our family and friends attended the ceremony except my father. He swore
she was still alive. He looked for her all day, every day since she
disappeared. And she’s back home now because he never gave up. MMT - Today, I walked my daughter down the aisle. Ten years ago I pulled a
14 year old boy out of his mom’s fire-engulfed SUV after a serious
accident. Doctors initially said he would never walk again. My daughter
came with me several times to visit him at the hospital. Then she
started going on her own. Today, seeing him defy the odds and smile
widely, standing on his own two feet at the altar as he placed a ring on
my daughter’s finger MMT. - Today, due to Alzheimer’s and dementia, my grandfather usually can’t
remember who my grandmother is when he wakes up in the morning. It
bothered my grandmother a year ago when it first happened, but now she’s
fully supportive of his condition. In fact, she plays a game every day
in which she tries to get my grandfather to ask her to re-marry him
before dinnertime. She hasn’t failed yet. MMT - Today, at 4PM I pulled over to help a man (who turned out to be a
paramedic) push his car out of the road. After looking under the hood
for a few minutes we both agreed his radiator needed to be replaced. He
told me he was running late to work, so I used my AAA card to get him a
free tow and ride to a repair shop next to the hospital. Exactly an hour
later I called 911 when my son’s best friend fainted and stopped
breathing after an asthma attack. The same paramedic, Jake, showed up at
my house, performed CPR on my son’s friend until he was breathing again,
and took him to the hospital. MMT - Today, it’s been 10 years that our office janitor/maintenance man
has been working at our company. Ever since he started, even as our
small company grew from 12 people (when I started) to 118, he has given
a small gift and card to every single one of his coworkers on their
birthday. I actually just received my 10th gift and card from him last
week. Today, for his birthday, the owner and CEO gave him a $25,000
bonus and threw him an after-work party. MMT - “Today is your funeral,” my mother said to me over the phone as she
cried hysterically from joy. I’ve been MIA overseas for the last few
months after a mission I can’t speak about backfired. I was rescued this
morning – the day of my funeral. MMT - Today, I came across a Facebook page with 89 fans that’s dedicated
to making fun of a kid at my school. It made me sick to my stomach. So I
wrote this on the page’s wall: “Read your cruel words, and then get up
and look in the mirror, all of you! And say, ‘I like torturing others! I
am proud of myself!’” I just checked the Facebook page again, about 7
hours later. No one responded to my post. But the page now has 26 fans.
MMT - Today, I was sitting on the subway, exhausted, in a horrible mood.
Lately I just haven’t been happy. I’ve been struggling with my weight,
my job, and life in general. About 15 minutes into the subway ride, the
elderly lady across from me got up, moved next to me, and said, “You’re
beautiful. I’m not joking. I was thinking it, and I wanted you to know.”
I smiled, thanked her and asked, “Do you usually complement strangers?”
“When I was your age, a woman my age sat next to me on a train. Her
compliments saved me from doing something stupid. And today, I’m
returning the favor.” MMT - Today, I operated on a little girl that was in a car accident. She
desperately needed O- blood, which is a bit rare. We didn’t have any
available, but her twin brother was at the hospital who had O- blood. I
explained to him that it was a matter of life and death – that his
sister needed his blood. He sat quietly for a moment, and then said
goodbye to his parents. I didn’t think anything of it until after we
took the blood we needed and he asked, “So when will I die?” He thought
he was giving his life for hers. Thankfully, they’ll both be fine. MMT - Today at the beach, I ran into my old boyfriend from high school who
I haven’t seen in 8 years. We broke up because his dad was in the
military and had to move to the east coast. They moved away during our
junior year in high school, and we kept in touch for awhile, but
eventually lost touch. I recognized him from a distance because he was
wearing a tye-dye shirt we made together for a summer beach party when
we were sophomores. The kicker: I was wearing my matching tye-dye shirt,
which I haven’t worn in years. We hung out the entire day and have a
date this evening. MMT - Today, my son turned 7 and I turned 23. Yes, I had him on the day I
turned 16. The choices I made when I was a teenager were foolish, and
sometimes I get worried I’m bringing my son up wrong. But today I took
him to the park to celebrate our birthdays. He played for hours with a
girl who has burn scars that cover most of her face. When my son took a
break to eat, he pointed to her and said, “She’s so pretty and cool!”
Which left me thinking, “I must be doing something right as a mom.” MMT - Today at 1AM, my grandma, who is suffering from Alzheimer’s, got up,
got into my dad’s car and drove off. We contacted the police. But before
the police could find her, two college kids pulled into our driveway
with my grandma. One was driving my dad’s car and the other was
following in their car. They said they overheard her crying about being
lost at an empty gas station 10 miles away. My grandma couldn’t remember
our address, but gave the kids her first and last name. They looked her
up online, found our address, and drove her home. MMT - Today, a young woman and her toddler knocked on my door. The woman
stared at me in silence for a second and then smiled and said, “I was
just visiting the area and I couldn’t help but look-up your address.
Your son carried me out of the World Trade Center on 9/11/2001 before he
went back inside to save others. I think about you and your family
almost every single day.” MMT - Today, I met the prettiest woman on an airplane. After some small
talk, and under the assumption that I wouldn’t see her again after we
made our connections in Atlanta, I told her how pretty I thought she
was. She gave me the most sincere smile and said, “Nobody has said that
to me in 10 years.” It turns out we’re both in our mid-30’s, never
married, no kids, and we live about 5 miles away from each other in
Dallas. We have a date set for next Saturday after we return home. MMT - Today, the only reason I’m alive is because of my little brother. 7
years ago I swallowed a bottle of prescription pain killers. No more
than 30 seconds later my brother called me from Iraq and told me how
much he hates it there and that the only thing keeping him going is
knowing that in a few months he’ll be back home hanging with his
favorite person – me. I vomited up the pills and never told a soul. My
brother and I are now roommates. MMT - Today, because of my older brother, I’m a high school grad, I’m
healthy and I’m alive. I’m 18 and my brother is 29. When we were 7 and
18, he got an apartment of his own on the good side of town and moved us
out of the crack house our late drug addicted mother was living in. He
worked 2 jobs to pay the bills and always made sure I was safe, fed and
at school on time. He basically saved my life. MMT - Today, as I was sleeping, I woke up to my daughter calling my name.
I was sleeping in a sofa chair in her hospital room. I opened my eyes to
her beautiful smile. My daughter has been in a coma for 98 days. MMT - Today, through extensive charity work, we helped move a street
family that has never lived in a house or slept on a clean bed into a
house of their own. As he stared around his new bedroom in awe, the
youngest boy in the family exclaimed, “I have a bed! My own bed! My very
own bed!” MMT - Today, at 8AM this morning, after four months of lifelessness in her
hospital bed, we took my mom off life support. And her heart continued
beating on its own. And she continued breathing on her own. Then this
evening, when I squeezed her hand three times, she squeezed back three
times. MMT - Today, my 8-year-old son hugged me and said, “You are the best mom
in the whole entire world!” I smiled and sarcastically replied, “How do
you know that? You haven’t met every mom in the whole entire world.” My
son squeezed me tighter and said, “Yes I have. You are my world.” MMT
If you enjoyed these short stories from Makes Me Think, I highly
recommend you also read PostSecret: Extraordinary Confessions from Ordinary Lives
and Other People’s Love Letters: 150 Letters You Were Never Meant to See
Article source http://www.marcandangel.com/2012/02/05/99-tiny-stories/
