ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:
Time now for "My Unsung Hero," our series from the team at the Hidden Brain podcast. "My Unsung Hero" tells the stories of people whose kindness left a lasting impression on someone else. Many of the people in this series don't get to reunite with their unsung heroes, but today we bring you an exception. Not long ago, we heard from Megan Atherton. In 2009, Atherton and a friend had just been evicted from their apartment. They were planning to drive from Annapolis, Maryland, to Atherton's hometown of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in hopes of finding a place to stay. But their car broke down, and they didn't have enough money to fix it. Toni Cranston was at the repair shop and overheard their predicament.
MEGAN ATHERTON: She took us in, gave us dinner. And she gave us a place to sleep, and then in the morning, she drove us all the way to Pittsburgh.
SHAPIRO: Atherton couldn't remember her unsung hero's last name, but one of Cranston's family members heard the story and reached out to the team at Hidden Brain. Fifteen years after they first met, the two women got to catch up.
ATHERTON: I'm going to start crying immediately. But there's no - there's really no way to adequately convey my depth of gratitude for what you did for us 'cause that was really, like, the inflection point of my life. And to have that opportunity where I was just so incapable of picking myself up and you just came in and were just there (crying) - if there's one thing I regret, it's that I know - I was so lost. I know that I didn't convey that.
TONI CRANSTON: You can only see what's directly in front of you. And I had nieces that were your age. And all I could think about is, oh, my God. What would happen if those two were sitting on the curb with their cat - no place to walk to, nobody can come get them? And it kind of seemed like a no-brainer at the time, you know, to get these kids someplace safe and where they can get help. But, you know, you're the one that did all the hard work. You should be very proud of yourself, what you accomplished. You had the strength to use what was there, not be embarrassed by it or upset by it and work your way out of it. And that takes a lot of character, Megan.
ATHERTON: That's so lovely.
CRANSTON: No, it's the truth.
SHAPIRO: Megan Atherton and her unsung hero, Toni Cranston. You can find more stories like this, including an extended conversation between Atherton and her unsung hero, at hiddenbrain.org.
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