The strangers who guided her home — and returned with Christmas dinner

In 1989, Mary Klein had just moved to Phoenix. She was alone in a city where she didn’t yet know anyone. On Christmas Eve, she decided to go out to see a movie to cheer herself up. Driving back in the dark, she became disoriented.

“ And the more turns I made, the more I got turned around,” Klein said. “I drove and I drove and I drove in circles.”

Eventually, she pulled over on the side of the road and began to look at her map.

“But I had honestly no idea where I was,” Klein said. “And there was just nothing but desert around me. So I just had a good self-pity cry.”

Then she saw headlights approach behind her — a car slowing to a stop. A couple came to her window and asked if she was okay.

“And I said, ‘I’m okay,'” Klein recalled. “But I was lost and I couldn’t find my way back to my house. And the woman got in the car with me and said, ‘We’re going to take you home, honey. My husband’s going to follow us.'”

They drove her all the way across Phoenix. It turned out she was on the opposite side of town from where she thought she was.

“And they came into my house. They made sure I was okay. They gave me hugs, and they said goodnight and Merry Christmas,” Klein said.

The couple left their phone number and told her to call if she needed anything. They also asked her if she was going to be home on Christmas. Klein told them she was.

The next day, around noon, she heard a knock on her door.

“I opened the door, and here was the same couple that I had met the night before with a picnic basket full of food,” Klein recalled. “And they set up the table and brought out all their dishes. And they had green beans and mashed potatoes and beef and corn and just sat down and shared their Christmas dinner with me.”

Later, the couple helped her clean up — they cleared the table and washed the dishes together.

 ”And we just chatted all afternoon,” Klein said. “The fact that they did that on Christmas of all days — when I’m sure they have their own traditions and their own families — to spend that time with me as a total stranger really, really touched my heart.”

Nearly forty years later, inspired by their example, Klein still looks for opportunities to connect with others who might be spending the holidays alone.

“I try to seek that out every single holiday season, and frankly, every day of my life — it had that profound of an impact on me,” Klein said.

“Honestly, that was probably one of the most lonely moments I ever felt in my life. And for somebody to come to my rescue that was a total stranger was very profound.”

My Unsung Hero is also a podcast — new episodes are released every Tuesday. To share the story of your unsung hero with the Hidden Brain team, record a voice memo on your phone and send it to [email protected].