Huntsville, Alabama—Enrique is a long way from Guatemala. A teenager. He speaks no English.
He works long hours on framing crews. He lives in a tent behind the gas station with two other boys.
Enrique comes down with a cold. The cold gets worse. And worse. He spends days lying on the ground of his campsite, wheezing, moaning. His fever is boiling hot.
One night, he hobbles through town for help. He finds an insurance office with a light on.
Enrique walks inside and mumbles, “Ayudame.” Then, he collapses.
One man drives Enrique to the hospital. Then, the man gives Enrique a place to stay—for two years.
And well, that was a long time ago. A lot of people have helped Enrique throughout his life.
They helped him get his citizenship, for instance. They also taught him English. They helped him through school. They helped him through nursing school, and clinicals.
Most of those same people, and fellow nurses, were at Enrique’s wedding.
Morgantown, West Virginia— Cindy is a recent
widow. She is driving the interstate, on her way home from work. It’s late.
She sees a girl, walking the shoulder, pushing a stroller. She wears a fast-food uniform.
Cindy stops. “Can I give you a ride?” she asks.
The girl refuses and says she doesn’t mind walking.
Cindy sees her again the next morning. This time, it is raining. Cindy offers the girl and her baby a ride.
The girl tells Cindy she was kicked out of her apartment by her boyfriend, she has no family, and no place to stay.
The last few weeks, the girl’s been living in a friend’s garage, sleeping on an air mattress. Her baby has been sleeping in a cardboard box.
Cindy considers giving money, but it doesn’t feel like enough. So, she brings the young woman home.
The next day,…