I Bought Shawarma and Coffee for a Homeless Man – He Gave Me a Note That Changed Everything

On a bitter winter evening, I bought shawarma for a homeless man and his dog. It seemed like a simple act of kindness, but when he handed me a note hinting at a past I’d completely forgotten, I realized this was no ordinary encounter.

I worked at a sporting goods store in a downtown mall. That day had been particularly rough with demanding shoppers and a jamming register. My daughter, Amy, had texted me about failing another math test, and the temperature had dropped to 26.6°F when my shift ended.

On my way to the bus, I noticed the shawarma stand, where a homeless man and his dog stood eyeing the food. He asked the vendor for hot water, but the vendor refused. The man seemed defeated, and I remembered my grandmother’s words: “Kindness costs nothing but can change everything.” I bought two shawarmas and two coffees and gave them to the man, who thanked me with a shaky voice.

Before I left, he handed me a note, asking me to read it later. At home, I read the note: “Thank you for saving my life. You don’t know this, but you’ve already saved it once before,” followed by the name of a café and a date from three years ago. I remembered the day—a stormy afternoon at Lucy’s Café when I had bought a coffee for a man who looked desperate. I had treated him with kindness, thinking nothing of it.

It was the same man. His life hadn’t improved, but he remembered me. The next day, I found him again, and after some conversation, I offered to help him get back on his feet. Over coffee, he told me how he had lost everything in a car accident and had been planning to end it all until my smile gave him hope.

We worked together to get him shelter, help with disability benefits, and even a job at a warehouse where his dog became the unofficial mascot. A year later, on my birthday, he came to my door with a cake, thanking me for saving his life three times: at the café, at the shawarma stand, and through everything that followed.

This experience reminded me how easy it is to miss someone’s pain, and how a simple act of kindness can change a life. I now share my grandmother’s words with my children: “Kindness costs nothing but can change everything.”