Miss Helen had been coming to our café for years—always kind, always steady, usually with her grandkids in tow. So when she showed up one morning, sitting alone at a decorated table with birthday streamers and an untouched cake, it stopped us in our tracks,She had invited her family. No one came.When we asked our manager if we could sit with her,

he said no—and threatened to fire us if we did. But we couldn’t just leave her there, not after everything she meant to us. So we ignored him.One by one, we joined Miss Helen. Someone brought her favorite pastries, someone else added flowers to the table. We listened to her stories,