From Hidden Brain Media, I'm Shankar Vedantam.

This is My Unsung Hero, stories where one person reached out to help another in a time of need.

Hello, I would like to thank my unsung hero.

He invited me to come over for Christmas because we're both. We were my unsung heroes.

I just want to say thank you.

Today's story comes from Christy Reeves.

In 2022, Christy got an email.

The subject line read, finalization of divorce.

It marked the official end of her decades-long marriage, and even though she knew

it was coming, the news hit hard. So she grabbed her shoes, her dog, and headed for the

mountains, looking for a bigger perspective. On her way up the trail, she ran into a couple

coming down from the top. She asked if she was almost there, and the man told her she was just a little farther.

But as he was speaking, I looked at his wife and I said to her,

your face does not match his message.

And she looked at me and said, it's not just around the quarter. It's a hard

hike. And then she said, good for you for doing it alone. Those words undid me. And I started to cry.

And I said to her, I just found out that my marriage of 33 years was finalized today.

And I needed a bigger perspective.

So I want to get to the top.

She looked at me and she said something I will never forget.

She said, do you need a hug?

And then I said something that I did not expect, which was yes.

...