Something terrible happened in New York City last week. I won’t go into the particulars, because they were horrific and personal. It was covered widely in the news, and the city was outraged. But two people stepped forward: my friend Alyson, and a concerned newspaper reporter. The least important part of what had transpired was that some property was stolen from the victim, and these two women thought that maybe, just maybe, they could better a bad situation by replacing it. So they set up a Paypal account and sent out the word to their friends: please donate — any amount is appreciated. I was so happy to be able to help in some way, and believe me, it was very small. But $5,000 was raised in very short order. Alyson immediately sent an email back to her friends that said, “I was so proud to be able to show my children what the world is really like, just by naming our friends.”

And when the donations were collected, and several of the anonymous donors jotted down their thoughts and wishes for the recipient, it was all simply signed,

Love,

New York