The Stranger on the Train (Part 2)

A few weeks ago, I shared the beginning of my friend Stephanie’s story: a February morning on a transit train, a grieving stranger who made room for me with my bags, and a conversation that ended in prayer and hard choices to make. I left off with Stephanie alone on that train, facing next steps that were entirely up to her. Here is a link to part 1 if you want to read it first.

Stephanie took that step of hope. The morning after we met, she made her way on her own to City of Refuge, walked through the gate, and asked for help. She has been a resident ever since, moving from immediate care to sustained stability. She is sober. She is employed. And she is more than a person who was helped. She is someone who helps others, sharing her story so that people in dark places can see a way forward.

She and I have been in touch regularly. Stephanie asks how my father is doing and how my mother is holding up. Her prayers for my family have been a blessing through a difficult season. Her perseverance, her courage, and her determination are an example to me, and I’m grateful to call her a friend.

Recall how this relationship began. Stephanie, in the middle of her own heartbreak, noticed that a stranger could use a hand and chose to be kind. That small, generous act set everything else in motion. Had she not made room on that train, none of what followed would have happened.

Last week, writing about the history of American giving, I described how Alexis de Tocqueville traveled the young country and marveled at the way ordinary Americans made sacrifices for one another. Stephanie demonstrated this same trait up close and personal. An entire vision of national generosity was displayed in her single, helpful gesture.

Generosity is transformational because of the benefits it provides to both the giver and the receiver. We tend to imagine that giving flows from the secure to the struggling, the strong to the weak. Stephanie’s story turns that around. Kindness offered from a place of pain proved every bit as powerful as anything offered from comfort. Generosity also has a way of compounding. One person’s small grace makes room for another’s, and the effects ripple outward in ways no one could have imagined.

You do not need resources or a plan to be generous. You need only a considerate attitude and a caring action — a willingness, even on a hard day, to make room for someone else. Stephanie shows us that an ordinary gesture can become the first link in a long chain of good.

I am thankful for Stephanie and thankful for the people at City of Refuge who welcomed her and have walked with her. In that vein, she is featured on page 7 of City of Refuge’s 2025 annual report, which you can read here.

Stephanie’s story still is being written, and I have no doubt she will go on doing good for a long time to come.

All the best,

Chris Gabriel,
Founder, WISEgenerosity