My first wife left when our son was just three months old. One morning she kissed him, said she needed air, and never returned. I spent weeks moving through life in a fog, learning how to warm bottles, pay bills, and survive on almost no sleep while the weight of single fatherhood settled onto my shoulders.

A few months later, friends urged me to join them for dinner, insisting it would help. I went, doing my best to appear fine. When my son needed a diaper change, I rushed to the men’s room—only to find there was no changing table. Exhausted and desperate, I asked a woman leaving the ladies’ room if she could check whether it was empty. She did, then quietly invited me inside.

As I tried to manage the situation on my own, she returned and gently offered help. I insisted I was fine, but my voice cracked. Without hesitation, she steadied me with an arm around my shoulders and told me I was doing well. The kindness in her voice broke something open in me, and I found myself leaning against the wall, quietly crying.

She changed my son with tenderness and understanding, and when it was over, I thanked her over and over. I returned to my friends feeling lighter, reminded that sometimes a single moment of compassion from a stranger is enough to keep a person going.