Meet Emily

I met a marvelous woman recently. And because sometimes anonymity is important in our movement, I always honor that.

We’ll call her Emily.

This meeting happened just after a speaking engagement where I had been discussing the Kindness Card Movement — about seeing people, feeding people, and loving people in real, practical ways.

If you saw her in that room, you would never assume she was struggling.

She looked like the rest of us.

Well dressed.
Well spoken.
Clear eyes. Calm voice.
Thoughtful. Present.

She didn’t look lost.
She didn’t look broken.
She didn’t look hopeless.

At least, not to me.

After our conversation began to wind down, she asked if she could speak with me privately.

And then, in a whisper, she told me something I honestly wasn’t sure I believed at first. “I’m living in my car.”

I paused.

Not because I didn’t care.

But because it didn’t match what I was seeing.

I told her if she could stay a little longer while I finished talking with others, we could visit more.

She stayed.

No rushing.
No dramatics.
Just quiet patience.

When we finally walked out to the parking lot together, she showed me her car.

Her home.
Her closet.
Her kitchen.
Her life.

Everything arranged. Blankets folded. Bags stacked. A pillow in place.

Then she said something I won’t forget.

“I try to keep it clean. So if anyone looks in, it just looks like a normal car.”

That sentence said more than anything else.

I followed her to the closest gas station, and using funds from the Kindness Card Movement, I filled her tank and helped her get food for the next several days. (Partially pictured.)

Emily thanked me more times than I can count.

And as always, I reminded her that I am just the vehicle for your kindness.

Here’s the lesson I keep learning, over and over again.

Not everyone who is struggling looks the part.

Hardship does not always wear worn-out clothes.

It does not always stand on a corner with a sign.

Sometimes it looks exactly like the person sitting beside you.

And that day, just minutes after speaking about kindness, I was reminded of the irony of it all.

We talk about seeing people.

But seeing people requires much more than looking.