On Thanksgiving, I was driving through the first snowstorm of the season with my seven-year-old daughter, Emma, when we saw an elderly couple stranded on the highway with a blown-out tire.
I immediately pulled over.
While Emma stayed warm in the car, I changed their tire in the freezing cold. The couple, William and Margaret, kept apologizing for the trouble, but I told them it was no big deal.
Before we left, Emma even gave them a drawing she had made.
A week later, my mom called me screaming:
“STUART! Turn on the TV RIGHT NOW!”
I switched on the news—and froze.
There they were.
William and Margaret weren’t ordinary elderly travelers. William was a former U.S. senator and presidential candidate.
On live television, they told the story of the stranger who stopped to help them when dozens of other cars drove past.
Then William announced a $25,000 reward for the man who changed their tire.
But that wasn’t all.
They also announced a new annual award honoring ordinary people who perform acts of kindness when nobody is watching.
Then Margaret held up Emma’s crayon drawing on national television.
They had kept it on their refrigerator all week.
A few weeks later, Emma and I were invited to Washington, D.C., where she helped light the National Christmas Tree.
The $25,000 went toward Emma’s college fund and repairs to our home.
But years later, Emma still told the story the same way:
“We would have stopped anyway. That’s just what good people do.”
And she was right.