DADADEL
80-year-old Gregory Smith stood on his porch, utterly speechless. He pinched himself to make sure he wasn’t dreaming, then called out to his wife, Cynthia, while clutching an envelope. His gaze shifted between the contents of the envelope and the brand-new sports car gleaming in front of their house.
“Cynthia! Come here quickly!” Gregory shouted, his hands shaking as he stared at the new car and realized their old one was missing.
“What’s going on, Gregory?” Cynthia emerged from the house, drying her hands with a towel. “I burned the last of the pancake mix because of you! We’re out of food, and you’re just standing here? When are you going to the grocery store?”
Gregory, still shocked, waved her off. “Look at this, Cynthia,” he said, showing her the envelope from the porch. “There were car keys inside, and our old car is gone! Look outside, where I parked it last night—there’s a brand-new car! What on earth is happening?”
“No note? Nothing explaining this?” Cynthia asked, equally puzzled.
“I checked. Nothing at all! What do we do—”
Before he could finish, a honk interrupted them. Gregory looked outside and saw their old car pulling up, driven by a man stepping out of it.
Gregory’s eyes filled with tears when he recognized the man. “Oh my goodness! He kept his promise, Cynthia!” Gregory exclaimed, turning toward his wife, who smiled knowingly.
The man warmly embraced Gregory. “How have you been, Gregory? It’s been a while, hasn’t it?”
“Jack? I can’t believe this… I’m doing well. But did you really do this?” Gregory asked, hugging him back.
“I had to, Gregory. After what you did for me… kindness like yours is rare. Besides, Mrs. Smith helped with the plan,” Jack smiled.
“I didn’t think he was serious!” Cynthia chimed in. “Now that there’s a shiny new car outside, I regret not taking him seriously sooner.”
“Trust me, I tried to stop him,” Cynthia added. “But Jack wouldn’t listen! And I’m terrible at pretending. Aren’t I, Jack?” she asked, scrunching her nose.
“You did great, Mrs. Smith!” Jack laughed.
Gregory shook his head in disbelief. “So I was fooled this whole time?”
Both Cynthia and Jack laughed. “Alright, that’s enough chit-chat,” Cynthia said. “Jack came all the way here; we can’t just let him leave. Stay for breakfast, Jack. And Gregory, there’s no need to go to the store. We have enough groceries to last a week… It was all part of the plan,” she chuckled.
As they gathered around the table for breakfast, Jack recounted how he first met Gregory. Cynthia knew parts of the story but hadn’t heard the full version.
“So, three weeks ago,” Jack began. “I met your husband at the airport. We were on the same flight, and I was on my way to see my wife, who was in labor. I was so anxious that I didn’t notice I’d booked my ticket for the wrong day. I only realized at check-in that it was for the next day.
“There were no more seats available, but your husband insisted I take his ticket. He said, ‘Boy, you NEED to be with your wife! Use my ticket, and I’ll take yours for tomorrow.’”
Cynthia nodded. “I remember Gregory telling me about the ticket swap. But how does the car fit into all of this?”
Gregory chuckled. “There’s more to the story… Before we exchanged tickets, we were chatting in the waiting room. I mentioned how we were still paying off loans and how our old car was giving us problems. After the ticket swap, Jack said, ‘Today we’re switching tickets; in a few weeks, we’ll exchange cars, that’s a promise!’ I didn’t take him seriously, but now I wish I hadn’t mentioned our car troubles.”
Gregory paused, shaking his head. “Jack took my address before we parted ways, and now here we are… but we can’t accept this, Jack. Your gesture is too much.”
Cynthia nodded. “Gregory is right. We didn’t realize you were serious when you discussed the surprise with me yesterday. Please, this isn’t necessary…”
But Jack shook his head. “What you did for me was priceless. Because of you, I got to be with my wife and newborn daughter. Please, accept the car as a thank you. I insist.”
Unable to refuse Jack’s generosity, Gregory and Cynthia accepted the car. But Jack’s kindness didn’t stop there. Knowing that the couple was struggling with loans and home repairs, Jack also took care of that for them. He even visited them one day with his wife and baby daughter.
Despite living in different cities, the Smiths now felt like family to Jack. He checked in on them regularly, ensuring they didn’t miss anything, especially after learning they had no children of their own.
