On a cold winter evening, after another exhausting day in retail during the holiday rush, I passed a familiar shawarma stand.

My mind was spinning with thoughts of my daughter’s school struggles, my son’s unfinished science project, and the dinner I still hadn’t started.

That’s when I noticed a homeless man and his dog, both shivering, hoping for any sign of kindness from the vendor. When the man politely asked for some hot water, the vendor snapped at him, ordering him to leave.

My heart sank, and my grandmother’s voice echoed in my mind: “Kindness costs nothing but can change everything.” I couldn’t walk away. I ordered shawarma and coffee for both of them, handed the food to the man, and turned to leave — only for him to stop me and press a folded note into my hand, asking me to read it later.

The note sat untouched until the next evening, as I was folding laundry. Inside was a short, powerful message: “Thank you for saving my life. You don’t know this, but you’ve already saved it once before.” He had included a date and the name of a place — “Lucy’s Café.” Suddenly, it clicked. Years ago, on a rainy day, I’d bought coffee and a croissant for a stranger in that very café. He was invisible to everyone else, but I smiled and treated him like a person. I never thought it mattered — but it had. He remembered. And now, on another cold night, fate had brought us back together.