I'll Never Forget Her Smile Fredrick Hudgin   © Copyright 2025 by Fredrick Hudgin

Photo Reiner at Pexels.

I was in a hurry. My wife wanted flour tortillas instead of the corn tortillas that the recipe called for in the Cowgirl Casserole I planned to make for dinner. The line at the checkout had three people in front of me. Slowly, those people collected their groceries, paid the tab, and walked their carts out to the parking lot.

The elderly woman in front of me had trouble with the credit card reader. It kept declining her card. I glanced at the total on the display—seventy dollars and change.

I remembered Grandma buying a woman’s groceries when the woman didn’t have enough money. Without hesitation, I pulled my wallet out and handed the checker the money. Her eyes went wide. “Really?”

“Yep.”

She looked at the woman who was trying her credit card again. “It’s OK, ma’am. This man has paid for your groceries. You can stop trying your credit card.”

The woman looked back and forth between me and the checker. “I don’t know what’s wrong. The card worked yesterday.”

“You can work it out with the credit card company when you get home.”

“This is so embarrassing,” she said.

“It doesn’t have to be,” I said, smiling. “Now you have a chance to do this for someone else.”

“I don’t know what to say. Thank you, sir.” She reached out to my arm and smiled.

“You just said it all. Thank you!”