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're my unsung heroes. I just want to say thank you. Today's story comes from Patrick Furlong.

Life was turbulent for Patrick after his parents got divorced. His dad moved out of state to live

closer to family, leaving Patrick without a father figure in his life.

One day, when he was about 15, he was preparing for a formal school event, and he realized

he didn't know how to knot a tie. And I remember as I realized that I wasn't going to be able to

figure it out, no matter what I did. There were just these like tears of frustration that

started to bubble up in my eyes. And I think they represented so much of the pain and hurt I was

feeling in my life at that time. And I didn't know what to do. So I took the tie and I think I shoved it in

like a suit coat pocket and I drove the couple miles to go to this event. And as I was waiting to get

into the event, I think a guidance

counselor saw me. And he asked if I could come help him with something. And when we got out of

earshot, he just asked me if I had my tie. And I think I kind of just started crying at that point.

I pulled the tie out. And I'll never forget the loving,

gentle smile he gave me as he tied it for me. And I think all he told me was like, we're going to be

okay. And we were. Many, many years later, I'm living in L.A. with my family and my son is preparing

for his first communion. And my son kind of calls

for me in the bathroom and asks if I could come and help him tie his tie. And I'm starting to put

the tie on. And as I look in the mirror, I just have this moment where I'm taken back to that

...