Jack Wilson was a truck driver who made a solid living, so when the babies were born, it was easy for Rachel to quit her job to care for their children. Things went on swiftly for four years; Rachel and Jack never expected anything to go wrong. But something did, and Rachel was at a loss.

One day, Jack left for work early in the morning and never returned. It was their wedding anniversary, and Rachel had tried to stop him since she had a nagging feeling something wasn’t quite right. But Jack had managed to talk her around. “Don’t worry, honey. I’ll be home on time. I promise.”

But Jack didn’t keep his promise. Later that evening, Rachel got a call from the cops informing her that he had passed away in a truck collision. The young widow sobbed incessantly, but nothing would change. Jack was gone, and she’d have to embrace the role of the man of the house.

Because her kids were just four years old, she couldn’t leave them alone at home. Hiring a nanny was out of the question because savings were limited, and there was no income. She couldn’t even ask her neighbors for help because they were anything but friendly.

Distraught by the situation, Rachel couldn’t even get to grieve the loss of her husband properly as she threw herself into work to support her children. She began knitting scarves and hats and selling them for a living, but problems arose when summer arrived. Her talent could no longer help her, and money was tight.

One day, she was at a grocery store buying items for her sons’ birthday, but the prices there made her brow furrow. “When did the price of cocoa powder go up? $5 for a small one?! Ughh, I haven’t bought half of the items yet, and the total is already $50! Jesus! I need to put some items back.”

She returned the cocoa powder on the shelf and got a package of generic cocoa biscuits instead as a substitute for cake flavoring. She proceeded to the next aisle just as one of her sons, Max, started insisting on buying him some candies. “Mommy! Can you please get me candies? Please?”

“Oh, honey!” Rachel paused. “Candies are not good for you. Doctors say that candies make your teeth bad. They’re also a little expensive, and mommy needs to bake a cake for your birthday, so she’ll have to buy the ingredients for them.”

But the four-year-old boy wouldn’t understand that. He began crying loudly, which attracted some of the shoppers’ attention. “No, mommy! I want it! I WANT CANDY!”

“Yes, mommy! We want candies too! PLEASE!!!” cried the other four boys in unison.

Rachel almost panicked in the store when everyone started staring at her, and she had to give in to her children in the end. However, when she approached the cashier to pay the bill, yet another trouble awaited her.

“How hard is it to check the prices before buying something?” the cashier, Lincy, grumbled. “You’re $10 short, so I’ll have to take some things out of here.” She picked up the chocolate cookies, candy bars, and a few other items and began preparing the bill, but Rachel stopped her.

“Oh, please don’t remove those items. Umm… let’s do one thing. I’ll remove the bread and….” Rachel began picking and choosing the items to remove.

Help can sometimes come from unexpected places.

Meanwhile, Max walked away to the aisle where milk cartons were placed, but Rachel was too busy to notice that. He was walking around when he came across an older woman. “Hi there, young man! I’m Mrs. Simpson. What’s your name? And what are you doing here alone?” she asked gently, smiling at him.

“Hello, Mrs. Simpson. I’m Max, and I’m four years old. How old are you?”

The older woman blushed. “I’m just a little older than you, Max. Let’s say 70? Where is your mother?”

“Mommy is fighting with someone. She says mommy doesn’t have enough money, and we need to leave some things here.”

“Oh, is that so?” Mrs. Simpson inquired worriedly. “Can you take me to your mommy?”

The boy nodded and dashed over to the check-out counter with Mrs. Simpson. Lincy had grown impatient with Rachel and was lashing out at her. “Look, woman! If you can’t afford stuff, don’t come here in the first place! Now move! Other customers are awaiting their turn!” She pushed Rachel’s bag at the side and motioned for the next customer to approach her. “Next!”

“No, please wait…” Rachel had just started speaking when a voice cut her off.

“There’s no need to remove those items. Your bill is already covered!” Mrs. Simpson approached Lincy and handed her her credit card. “Ring in all the items including the ones you removed. It’s on me.”

“Oh no, please,” Rachel intervened. “I’m afraid I can’t take that from you. It’s fine.”