ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:
Time now for "My Unsung Hero," our series from the team at the Hidden Brain podcast. "My Unsung Hero" tells the stories of people whose kindness left a lasting impression on someone else. Today's story comes from a listener named Karleen. We're only using her first name to protect her privacy. Many years ago, Karleen was physically attacked by her then-boyfriend. Terrified, she left their condo, sat down on the curb and began to cry. When she tried to go back inside, he had locked the door. Karleen returned to the curb, cold and wondering what to do.
KARLEEN: A few minutes later, a car passed by, and the driver stopped and asked if I was OK. I said I was fine, but he could tell something was wrong, and he invited me to come to his house to get warm and get something to eat. I didn't want to get in a car with a strange man because that's kind of how I ended up here in the first place, but he said it wasn't very far and drove slowly so I could walk alongside. When we got to his house, I stayed several steps behind while he walked up to the door. And when he opened the door, he called for his wife, and she came out, hugged him, said, what's up? He gestured to me to come up, and he said, this is Karleen. She's going to have some dinner with us.
She just turned to me and smiled, welcomed me like an old friend. And when I went in, there were the most glorious smells of home-cooked meal. And then there was their son, who was about 10, and he was just as kind and welcoming. It turns out it was Hanukkah, and I had never been part of a Hanukkah celebration before. I knew precious little about it. So I watched them, you know, go through the ritual of lighting the candle and the prayer, and then we sat down for the meal. And the family was just so warm and friendly that I felt safe and cared for. But after dinner, Mark asked me what I was going to do. He asked me for my parents' phone number, and he went in another room and called them. And then he came out, and then he told me he was going to drive me the 60-some-odd miles to my parents' house.
When we got there, he gave me his business card and told me to reach out if I ever needed anything. But after my nervous and embarrassed greeting with my mom and dad, I turned around, and he was gone. I did call him once or twice over the next year or so to thank him again, but then the phone didn't work from the card that I had, and I completely lost touch. But there's not a holiday season that goes by that I don't think of him and the unassuming compassion and generosity of Mark Shub (ph) and his lovely family.
(SOUNDBITE OF RHYTHM SCOTT'S "UPLIFTING PIANO") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.