Stranger - Help With A Suitcase

This story is short but had a huge effect on me.  It was my first day in New York City. I had just arrived after an overnight Greyhound ride and was exhausted, hot, and confused.  In addition to this I was lugging around a huge suitcase and three bags.  The bags were manageable, but the suitcase was unwieldy, to put it mildly, and I found myself at the bottom of a large staircase in a subway station. 

I looked at the flights of stairs, swallowed, grit my teeth, and started lugging the suitcase up behind me, dragging it step by step.  Suddenly, I felt the weight lift and I turned to see this tiny woman, in her late 50’s to early 60’s, grabbing the other end of the suitcase and helping me lift it up the stairs.  It was not only the sweetest possible gesture, it gave me comfort to find such goodwill in a city I had been afraid would eat me alive.  I don’t know who the woman was and I will probably never see her again, but I will never forget her small act of kindness.  I hope she knows how thankful I am.