Tommy Bromilow

He hadn’t. Apparently, two years earlier, when his wife had suddenly lost her job, they were struggling badly. The $50 I’d lent him helped cover enough gas for him to get to work until his next paycheck. According to him, I was one of the only people who helped without making him feel ashamed. He never forgot it. Over the following years, he slowly put money aside whenever he could. Not because I asked. Because he wanted to repay kindness with kindness. Then he found out I had been laid off, he felt so bad and but at thesame time happy, he fulfilled his silent promise, before I left. The envelope wasn’t repayment. The original $50 had already been returned months earlier through payroll deductions for a company fundraiser I barely remembered. The money in the envelope was simply his way of helping me during a difficult moment. 3/