Produced by the I-Lab at W-B-R, Boston.

Welcome to Kind World. I'm Yasmin Ammer.

And I'm Andrea Aswah.

We all make big plans in life, like what we want to be when we grow up,

or what kind of family we want to have.

And then as we get older, we can. grow up or what kind of family we want to have.

And then as we get older, we think about how we're

going to reach those goals.

What's the recipe for success?

And some of us, like me, we have step by step blueprints of how we're going to get there.

But as you probably already know, that's not how life works.

In this week's kind world, I have a story about life's unexpected turns and how others' compassion can help

us get through its worst moments. My father was an alcoholic and very abusive to my mother and she was a waitress and she

never felt like she was financially independent enough to make a separation.

Lynn Schutzman, now almost 70, learned a lesson from her mother's experience.

Always be self-sufficient. learned a lesson from her mother's experience.

Always be self-sufficient.

One of the things that I wanted to make sure from a very early age

was that one day I would be able to take care of myself no matter what.

Lynn grew up in King of myself no matter what.

Lynn grew up in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania,

a suburb outside of Philadelphia.

...