Laura Kwerel

Alek Hermon didn't think much of his father's overnight nurse until his father died.

As a college freshman, Karen de Boer was sometimes inconsiderate to her hallmate, Pam. So when Karen missed the bus to her choir performance, she was surprised — and moved — when Pam came to her rescue.

The last place Brad Larsen saw his mom before she died was at a diner in New York. A few years later, he went back. The bartender asked if he remembered their table, and invited him to sit there.

In 2016, Tulika Prasad was at the grocery store checkout line with her seven-year-old son, who is non-verbal and autistic. A woman understood what was going on when Prasad's son had an outburst.

Jon Hegwood was a teen parent when he told his high school principal, Billy Barnett, that he planned to drop out of school. But Barnett convinced Hegwood to earn his diploma.

After Vivian Curren's young son threw sand on another child at a park, she assumed she was about to be judged for poor parenting. Instead, a stranger's response made Curren feel like a good mom.

In the late 1980s, Stephanie Garber was driving through downtown Silver Spring, Md., when a large pickup truck hit her car. A woman swooped in to offer her a cup of tea and compassion.

Ashley Blas visited her mother's grave for the first time since the funeral. The driver who took her noticed grass covering part of the stone. In a full suit, he knelt down and cleaned the gravestone.

After Nancy Willis finished the New York City Marathon, she went to greet her family, only to discover that her 8-year-old son was missing. After a frantic search, a woman appeared with the boy.

When Terry Hill was 4, she and her young siblings were left in the car by themselves as their father ran into a store. Then the car started moving. A young man stopped the car before anyone got hurt.