A stranger swooped in with tea and compassion after a woman got in car accident : NPR

Stephanie Garber, circa 1994

Stephanie Garber

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Stephanie Garber

This story is part of the My Unsung Hero series, from the Hidden Brain team. It features stories of people whose kindness left a lasting impression on someone else.

In the late 1980s, Stephanie Garber was driving through downtown Silver Spring, Md., when a large pickup truck hit her car. She wasn’t injured, but the other driver was furious, claiming the accident was Garber’s fault. And her car was completely wrecked.

As she stood on the sidewalk waiting for help to arrive, watching her car block traffic in the middle of morning rush hour, Garber began to cry.

“I was standing there and I was anxious and I was nervous. And I felt guilty about keeping the traffic stopped,” Garber said. “So, I really was not myself.”

All of a sudden, a professionally dressed woman approached her. The woman appeared to be on her way to work and she was holding a cup of hot tea from the nearby coffee shop.

“She handed it to me and she said, ‘Maybe this will help,’ ” Garber recalled. “And when I looked at her, I just felt such kindness coming my way at a time when I needed it.”

They smiled at each other and Garber thinks she told the woman thank you, though she’s not sure. Then the woman went on her way. Garber recalls drinking the entire cup of tea.

“Actually, I’ve never liked tea at all,” she said. “But I drank every drop and I felt her compassion coming through with each swallow.”

The next morning, during rush hour, Garber drove a rental car back to the same spot downtown, hoping to find the woman and thank her again. But the woman wasn’t there.

Garber held on to the small tag from the tea bag for about 15 years as a way to remember the woman’s act of generosity.

“I still remember it. I tell all my friends, ‘I never forget a kindness,’ ” Garber said. “And this might have seemed like a very small kindness, but it meant a lot.”

My Unsung Hero is also a podcast — new episodes are released every Tuesday. To share the story of your unsung hero with the Hidden Brain team, record a voice memo on your phone and send it to myunsunghero@hiddenbrain.org.