The cabbie stopped at the small apartment building and went to the door. It was 2:30 a.m.

A small woman in her 80s answered. He offered his arm and picked up her suitcase with the other hand.

She kept thanking him for his kindness but he simply replied, “I just treat my passengers the way I would want my mother treated.”

In the cab she gave him an address and asked if he would drive through downtown.

“It’s not the shortest way,” he said, but she said she didn’t mind. She was on her way to hospice. No family. Not much longer to live.

The cabbie turned off the meter then and for the next few hours drove through the city as she told him about her life. At sunrise, she said it was time to go.

At the convalescent home, she asked how much she owed him.

“Nothing,” he said as he bent down to hug her.

She held on tightly. “You gave an old woman a little moment of joy. Thank you.” And he watched the doors shut behind her like the closing of a life.

What if he had been angry or impatient? What if he hadn’t gone to the door but just honked? He realized that his kindness had been one of the most important acts of his life.