A local business offered some supplies.
People began hearing about the project.
And within weeks, the little effort had become something larger.
I looked at my husband.
He wouldn’t meet my eyes.
## “You Gave Me More Than Formula”
Maya looked at me.
“You probably don’t remember what you said that day.”
I did.
“Which part?”
She smiled.
“You asked me what formula I needed.”
I nodded.
“You didn’t ask why I was poor.”
I didn’t know what to say.
“You didn’t ask whether I deserved help,” she continued. “You just helped.”
I felt my eyes burning.
She took a breath.
“That meant more to me than you realize.”
I shook my head.
“It was just formula.”
“No,” she said. “It wasn’t.”
She explained that she had been standing outside the store for almost an hour before approaching us.
She had been terrified.
She had been calculating how much money she had left.
