On the way home from winter break this year, I saw a girl a few years older than me crying in the train station. She was just leaning against the wall, hysterical. I just couldn't walk past her without saying anything, so I asked her what was wrong. She went into this whole long story about how she was fourteen dollars short for train fare and she just wanted to see her baby. 

She really broke my heart. The first thing I thought was, "She'll probably just use this money for drugs." But when I looked at her, I realized that it didn't really matter what the money was for. I come from a family with a history of addictive behavior, and I realized what I would want someone to do if they walked by my aunt crying in a train station.

I gave her the five singles I had in my wallet and hugged her. She just cried harder, but she was so thankful. 

I'm not a hugger  - at all - but I knew she really needed one.