I Paid for Baby Formula for a Struggling Mom of Three – the Next Day, a Soldier Knocked on My Door

I nodded and stepped forward, handing my card to the cashier.

The transaction took about 10 seconds. The people behind me muttered and rolled their eyes, but I didn’t care. I couldn’t look at them, anyway.

Allison grabbed the formula with both hands like it might disappear. “Thank you. I don’t know how to… my husband’s been away, and things are just…”

She nodded, tears streaming down her face, and hurried out with her children before anyone could say another word.

That night, I couldn’t stop thinking about her.

About the way her hands shook. About the cruelty in those strangers’ voices. About how close she’d been to breaking right there in the middle of a grocery store.

I lay in bed holding Luke’s hoodie and wondered if I’d done enough. If one can of formula mattered in the face of whatever Allison was dealing with.

The next morning, someone knocked on my door.

I wasn’t expecting anyone. I never expected anyone anymore.

I opened the door in my pajamas, coffee mug still in my hand, and froze.

A man in military uniform stood on my porch. Tall, broad-shouldered, with tired eyes that looked like they’d seen too much.

“Harper?”

My heart stopped. “Yes?”

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