A stranger paid for my prescription

Dear Editor,

My insurance gap left me staring at a $94 copay for inhalers I need to breathe. I was counting coins at the pharmacy counter when the woman behind me told the clerk to put it on her card. I protested. She said, "Someone did it for my mother once."

I never got her name. I pass that kindness forward when I can. In a state where healthcare headlines are grim, that moment still steadies me.

— Robert Ellison