Auburn, Alabama—a nice day. A busy town. College kids wander the sidewalks. A rusted truck with hay bales sits beside me at a stoplight.

Pictures of eagles and tigers in every shop window. Orange and blue all over.

At the intersection of College and Magnolia is Toomer’s Drugs. A throwback to the old world. Their lemonade is a spiritual experience.

A few minutes away is the East Alabama Pediatric Dentistry clinic, on North Dean. It’s a nice-looking building with even nicer people.

The waiting room is full. A Hispanic family with six kids. A mother and her two-year-old. A father and his rowdy sons. Children swinging feet. This room is anything but quiet.

“We get’em from all over,” says Doctor Keri. “Because we’re one of the only offices who take Medicaid.”

Patients visit from as far away as Dothan. Needy patients. Hundreds of stories walk through these doors, each one is a heartbreaker.

We’re talking true poverty. Grade-schoolers with missing teeth. Eight-year-olds with handfuls of cavities. Disabilities. Mental illness. Childhood cancer.

You name it.

But there’s also something special in this place. You can feel it in the waiting room.

The door to the back swings open. A small boy runs into the waiting room, toward his mother.

The Hispanic woman holds his chin and inspects his smile. She says, “Esa sonrisa.”

Which roughly translates into: “I love you so much it hurts.”

There is a sign on the wall in the waiting room. It reads: “Free coats, hats, scarves, and gloves.”

I ask about the sign.

“Oh that,” the receptionist says. “That’s our clothing closet. It’s all Mo’s doing.”

Meet Mo Malphrus.

She works here . She’s a certified sweetheart. Her voice is pure Cajun, her eyes are sharp, her lipstick is neon pink. Hugging her is like hugging your Aunt Bunny.

Mo leads me to a…

Jacksonville, Florida—a car accident. A crushed car, sideways in the median. Years ago. She saw the car and pulled over

She jogged toward it. It was instinct. She opened the door. The man wasn’t breathing.

She had been working part-time at a pre-school. Pre-schools have mandatory CPR certification classes. Only a few days earlier, she had practiced resuscitating dummies in a church fellowship hall.

She pulled the man out of the battered vehicle. She found his breastbone. Thirty compressions. Two rescue breaths.

He’s alive today. A father of four. He keeps in touch.

Athens, Georgia—nineteen-year-old Billy didn’t want to get into a fistfight. He’d never been in a fight before. He saw a younger kid being beaten by two large boys. He couldn’t stay out of it.

Billy, who’d never thrown a punch in his life, pushed himself into the conflict. He fended off the two attackers, but not without being beaten-up.

Billy took the kid to the emergency room. They became fast friends. He brought the kid home

to meet his parents. The boy told them he’d been living with his uncle—who neglected him.

Billy’s parents invited the kid live with them. They fixed the guest bedroom. They bought him a Playstation. They fed him. They made him one of their own.

When Billy got married, the kid was his best man. When Billy had his first son, the kid became a godfather.

When the kid wore a cap and gown to receive a diploma, seven people stood and clapped for him.

Hoover, Alabama—Leigh Ann was your classic shut-in. She was too old and feeble to go anywhere.

Most days, she sat in a recliner watching her stories on TV. Sometimes she forgot to feed herself. She had nobody. She’d been lonely ever since her husband passed. Leigh Ann had no children.

One day, a young man who…

Before I tell you about Ben, he asked for me to tell you the story about a two-legged frog first. Ben is a young man who rides a wheelchair. He likes chocolate, football, girls, and frogs.

So the frog story:

I found a two-legged frog in the creek, as a boy. That was a good day. No. It was a great day. It’s not every day you find a frog with only one set of legs.

I saw the frog leaping on a bank of clay. I chased him. He didn’t run. He wasn’t afraid. I named him Otis.

I put Otis in a shoebox lined with grass and brought him to my father.

Daddy held the frog up to the light. Otis didn’t try to leap out of his hands. He placed Otis on his workbench. Otis sat, blinking.

“You can’t keep Otis in a shoebox,” Daddy said. “It’d be a crime against nature.”

“Why?”

“Because, Otis is what you call a genuine miracle.”

Otis didn’t look like a genuine miracle to me. He

couldn’t jump very high. Instead, he’d slide forward, using his back legs to push himself.

Because of this, I reasoned that we should definitely let Otis sleepover, to further reflect on how he could be my pet forever.

“No,” said Daddy. “Better let him go, so more people can see a genuine miracle. That's why he was made."

I wasn’t crazy about this idea, but we let him go anyway. Otis jumped through the grass toward parts unknown. I thought that would be the last anyone ever saw of Miraculous Otis. But it wasn’t.

My friend Billy found Otis in the same creek once. So did my friend Jessie, Tony, Ricky, and Allen. Otis became genuinely famous among the fourth grade.

Anyway, now I’ll tell you a little about Ben.

When I first met him, he was riding…

DEAR SEAN:

I’m a senior in high school and this has definitely been the hardest year I’ve had. Mostly, because of a boy who’s hurt me. How do I make it to graduation when everything around me is going wrong?

Sincerely,
SUFFERING-FROM-SENIORITIS

DEAR SENIORITIS:

I don’t know. That’s the short answer.

The long answer is: I’m the wrong guy to ask.

When I was your age, I had a girlfriend who was much like your mouth-breather boyfriend. She came from a family with more money than Betty Crocker.

She was a go-saddle-my-horse-Charles kind of girl. And I was the kind of guy who drove a pickup with a homemade rear bumper.

Anyway, her father was a golfer. He took me golfing once. I showed up in jeans and sneakers. He took one look at me and a piece of his soul died.

I do not golf.

He ushered me into a golf-pro shop to buy me plaid pants and a pink shirt. You will note that I’m a redhead. And

according to my mother, some redheads should not wear pink unless they want to look like a puddle of lukewarm sheep vomit.

Still, I did everything I could to impress this girl. Pink and all.

One night, I even agreed to join her family for supper at the country club.

To beautify myself, I recruited the expert help of distinguished socialite and celebrated high-society blueblood, my friend Chubbs.

Chubbs is the son of a small-engine mechanic. He helped dress me using items from his father’s wardrobe.

We borrowed his father’s sportcoat, which was eighteen sizes too big. The sleeves were too long, so we rolled them up and secured them with rubber bands and duct tape.

I wore the fanciest shoes I owned—red Nikes. Chubbs slicked my hair using unrefined paste floor wax.

When Chubbs was satisfied…

They don’t know when he started, but somewhere along the way he did. Maybe it began when he’d give handfuls of money to the homeless man at the Circle K.

Every morning after filling his car, he’d give spare change to the man with the wiry beard. A few bucks here. A few there.

They became friends. Their conversations got longer. Good talks were appreciated by both parties.

One day, he decided to take the man to lunch. They ate sandwiches on a curb. It did something to him.

Soon, he was looking for people to give money to. Anyone. Then there were the flat tire changes.

That all started by accident. The first time he pulled over it was for a woman and her newborn. Something made him do it.

He took care of her car while she rocked her baby. She was late for work. She tried to pay him. Instead, he paid her.

It embarrassed the woman.

“This isn’t a gift,” he pointed out.

“It’s a thank-you.”

“For what?”

“For being a good mother.”

From then on, he carried orange cones in his trunk and a hydraulic jack. Sometimes, he changed three tires a week. Sometimes more. Changing tires became his thing.

Then there was the time at the fast-food restaurant. He was there to get a to-go supper with his wife, on their way out of town.

He noticed a family enter behind him. There were six or seven of them, dressed in faded clothes. He couldn’t quit looking at them.

When he paid the cashier for his order, he left two hundred dollars and whispered, “See that family? Tell’em their meal is free BEFORE they order.”

“But,” said the cashier. “You gave me too much.”

“Keep it,” he said.

He slipped out the side door.

And that’s how he…

I am in the kitchen with an elderly woman named Pauline. And, dear Lord, can she cook.

Her son, Don, brought me here. He tells me his mother’s downhome fare is good enough to coax even the most depraved human being into behaving like a Pentecostal.

This is Pauline’s old home. She raised a family here. She doesn’t live here anymore, she’s too old. She’s in the retirement home.

This house sits vacant most of the time. Old photos line the walls. Bed sheets cover furniture. The last time they used this place was for a family reunion last year.

I arrive at eight in the morning. The smell of bacon hits me like a freight train. Crackling eggs. Biscuits. Grits. Holy Chet Atkins, I’m home.

Pauline is wearing 1962—red polka-dot apron, pearls. She’s all business. The woman is a feeder. If you don’t know what that is, have a seat at her table.

Her food is breathtaking. Her grits contain so much butter I need to say three Hail

Marys and two Our Fathers when I'm finished.

After breakfast, she takes a breather. We wash dishes.

“Now,” she announces. “Let the REAL cooking begin.”

Class is in session.

I’m here as an observer, watching a feeder teach her son to make pound cake. It's a private moment. I feel privileged to see it.

Don is beside her, paying attention. She uses no recipes. She goes by feel.

“See,” Don tells me, “I always wanted to learn Mama’s poundcake. It’s the best there is, ask anyone, I just wanna carry on her legacy.”

You’ve never met her, but you already know her legacy. She represents every kitchen queen there ever was.

She is frilly aprons, Thursday-night Civic League, pear salad with cherries and shredded cheese on top, and an accent that makes your heart sore.

She cooks by…

This story isn’t mine, but I’m going to tell it like I heard it. I first heard it from an old man who drove a Ford. And I have a soft spot for old Ford men.

So there he is. The old man is driving. He sees a car on the side of the highway. A kid stands beside it. Hood open.

The man pulls over.

He’s America’s quintessential old man. He drives a half-ton Ford that he’s been babying since the seventies. He changes the oil regularly, waxes it on weekends. The candy-apple red paint still looks nice.

He looks under the kid’s hood. He can see the problem right away, (a) the transmission is shot, and (b) it’s not a Ford.

Fixing it would cost more than the vehicle.

The kid is in a hurry, and asks, “Can you give me a ride to work? I can’t afford to lose my job.”

So, the old man drives the kid across town. They do some talking.

The man learns that the boy has four children, a young wife, and a disabled mother living with him. The boy works hard for a living. Bills keep piling up.

It rips the man's heart out.

They arrive at a construction site. There are commercial framers in tool belts, operating nail guns. The kid pumps the old man’s hand and thanks him for the ride.

“Take care of yourself,” the man tells the kid.

The kid takes his place among workmen, climbing on pine-framed walls, swinging a hammer.

The old man decides to help the kid. He doesn’t know how. Or why. But it’s a decision that seems to make itself.

That same day, he’s at a stop light. He sees something. An ugly truck, sitting in a supermarket parking lot. A Ford.

A for-sale sign in the window.…

Cracker Barrel—A young woman walked past me. She walked with a heavy gait and awkward steps. She waved at every person she saw.

She had Down syndrome. I don’t know how old she was. Early thirties maybe.

The waitress took her order, but the girl was in no mood to order.

“YOU ARE A PRETTY WAITRESS!” the girl said in a voice loud enough to register on most recently calibrated Richter scales.

The waitress—early sixties, wiry—smiled. “Why thank you, sweetie. What’s your name?”

“MY NAME’S RINDA!” the girl said.

“Rinda? Pretty name.”

“NO, NOT RINDA YOU DUMBASS! L-L-LINDA! WITH AN ‘L!’”

Linda let out a laugh. So did the waitress. So did everyone who heard it.

Linda might be the happiest person I’ve ever seen.

My own waitress was young. Hispanic. And even though she was as radiant as a pot of coffee, I could tell she was tired.

She wore a button on her apron which read: “Soy Amada.”

I ask about the button.

“It means ‘I am

loved,’” she said. “My mom’s from Mexico, she gave it to me.”

“Soy amada,” I said.

“See?" she said. "Now you are loved.”

How about that.

After breakfast, I drove toward the grocery store for my wife. She had given me a list a mile long.

It’s important to note: in our entire marital career, I’ve never made a successful grocery run. Usually, I’ll do something like accidentally buy the only brand of coffee creamer which she thinks tastes like fresh baby vomit.

On the way to the store, I saw a man standing in the median. He held a handwritten poster reading: “Need food, God bless.”

The minivan ahead of me turned on its hazards. A blonde woman stepped out and handed the man several plastic bags.

I saw the man sit on…

My father’s truck. I was riding shotgun. He was skinny, shirtless, sunburned. Billy Graham was on the radio, preaching like a man with his hair on fire.

Daddy didn’t do radio preachers—unless it was Billy. Daddy turned the volume up. His face went still. I’ll never forget it.

Billy said the words, “Jesus wept.” And my daddy started crying.

Daddy clicked the radio off. He wiped his eyes and said, “You know, I’d like to shake old Billy’s hand someday.”

Funny. The preacher who spoke at Daddy’s funeral delivered a good sermon. He told the congregation that “Jesus wept.” And I remember thinking about what a coincidence that was.

But at this age, I don’t believe in coincidences anymore.

I have a memory from my Granny’s dank, single-wide trailer. It was a place that smelled like smoke and mildew. The once-white ceiling was yellow from tobacco. My granny had been keeping the same Winston ember burning since the early fifties.

Billy Graham’s face was on a black-and-white console television. His voice

was loud enough to blow the speaker.

“WHO IS YOUR NEIGHBOR?” he shouted.

My Granny forced a lungful of smoke out and asked me, “Who’s your neighbor?”

I shrugged.

Billy hollered to beat the band. He held his Bible in one hand. By the time he got to the invitation, I was singing along with “Just as I Am.”

As a young man, I pulled electrical wires with a man who was bad to drink. He was late-sixties; I wasn’t even twenty.

The man’s family had washed their hands of him. He wasn't exactly father of the year.

One night, my phone rang. He was half tight, calling from a downtown payphone. He said his engine wouldn’t start.

Which was nothing short of a miracle. If he would’ve gotten behind the wheel in his condition, this story…

I like yard work as much as I like walking shin-first into a trailer hitch. Let's just say that I’m not a meticulous man. I don't iron my jeans, and I don't worry about the length of my lawn.

Long grass never hurt anyone.

But wives feel differently about this. And, as it happens, so do neighborhood associations.

Anyway, long ago my lawn was out of control. The problem reached a crescendo when the neighborhood association noticed a family of raccoons building a summer cottage in my tall grass.

I was forced to evict the coons and start mowing regularly.

But one afternoon, my landscaping worries were over.

Enter Dillon. Dillon showed up on my porch, unannounced, with his mother.

He was a sixth-grader with a round face. The kind of chubby face I had at his age—which earned me the name, “Chip.” Which was short for “Chipmunk.” Which was short for “Slow-Moving Dodgeball Target.”

Dillon was shy. His mother nudged him and made

him speak for himself. Dillon used a voice quiet enough to qualify as non-verbal.

“I’m starting a lawn service...” he said.

It took me three nanoseconds to answer, “You can start tomorrow.”

We agreed upon terms and conditions, and we shook on it.

“You were so brave, Dillon,” I heard his mother say when they left my porch. “I'm proud of you.”

I remember the look on his face when she said it. All little boys need someone to be proud of them.

He charged twenty bucks per cut. I paid him thirty. Dillon was as dependable as they came. Every Wednesday, he arrived pushing a mower.

Sometimes we talked. I’d ask how life was. He’d give wordy responses like, “Fine,” then dart away before any threat of actual conversation.

For nearly a year, things went famously. Then Dillon quit showing up.…