At 14, I was so poor that I couldn’t afford lunch, and I used to pretend to forget it. A teacher started bringing me food every day, but then during that school year, she suddenly vanished and never came back.

10 years later, I had become a lawyer. I saw her name booked for a visit. When she came in, I froze. She was the same woman I knew, with those same kind eyes. But I was shocked when she started to shake and tremble. She didn’t recognize me at first, but when I told her my name, she smiled.

Her husband of 20 years had left her for a younger woman and taken all her savings in a planned scheme. She couldn’t afford a lawyer but had come asking for help—or at least reduced fees. I took her case and told her I didn’t want a penny.

We won. She got all her money back—and even more in damages. She hugged me and said I’d saved her. I told her I was only repaying a debt—and that she could count on me, always.