Twenty-five years earlier, Richard owned a struggling office supply business.
I cleaned his small office four evenings a week.
One November night, I found him sitting alone with a stack of unpaid invoices.
His biggest customer had left.
Payroll was due Friday, and six employees were counting on him.
I had $2000 saved to replace my unreliable car.
The next evening, I brought him the money.
“It’s a loan,” I said.
“Danielle, you need this.”
“So do your employees.”
Richard borrowed it, found the rest of the payroll elsewhere, and paid everyone on time.
Three months later, he repaid me with interest.
The photograph was taken that day.
On the back of his thank-you note, he’d written, “You helped me keep my promise to the people who depended on me. I won’t forget.”
His business eventually prospered through years of hard work.
My loan hadn’t made him wealthy.
But it had helped him through a frightening week.
