Yesterday, in the middle of busy downtown Athens, I was reminded of something important: kindness often shows up in the simplest, most unexpected ways.
My daughter Avery and I had been out when, suddenly, she urgently needed to use the restroom. Any parent knows that when a little one says “I have to go now”, it means there’s no time to waste. We rushed into the nearest place — a Subway sandwich shop.
But before we could make it to the restroom, an employee stopped us gently, explaining that the facilities were for paying customers only. My heart sank. In our rush, I hadn’t brought my wallet. Embarrassed, I apologized and said we would leave.
That’s when something extraordinary happened.
Without hesitation, two young men standing nearby immediately spoke up. “We’ll buy a cookie for her,” one of them said. “That way she’s a paying customer.”
In that moment, I was overwhelmed with relief and gratitude. It may not sound like much — a cookie, a couple of dollars — but to Avery and me, it meant everything. Thanks to their kindness, we were able to get into the restroom in time.
When we came back out, the two young men were still there. I thanked them again, and we struck up a conversation. That’s when I found out who they were: both of them play on the UGA football team.
Here were two college athletes, strangers to us, who didn’t have kids of their own and had no reason to step in — yet they did. They didn’t hesitate, they didn’t expect recognition, they simply acted out of compassion.
What followed was one of those surprising, light-hearted moments that stay with you. We laughed together, chatted about football, and shared a few smiles in the middle of what had started as a stressful situation.
To some, it may seem like a small gesture. But to me, it was a ray of sunshine — a reminder that kindness still exists in this world. These young men, Latavious and Jaylen, didn’t ask for anything in return. Their actions spoke louder than words: they saw a need, and they filled it.
It brought to mind a message I once heard in Andy Stanley’s sermon: “What does love require of you?” For those two young men, the answer in that moment was simple — to help, to give freely, to step up for a stranger in need.
In a time when the world can feel so heavy and divided, this small act of generosity carried so much weight. It showed me, once again, that compassion is never wasted.
So thank you, Latavious and Jaylen. Fine young men, true representatives of what it means to live with heart, and a reminder to all of us that the world becomes brighter every time someone chooses to care.
Go Dawgs!
