Julie had loaded her station wagon with suitcases, toys and snacks—not to mention her four children. They were traveling from Western Massachusetts to Long Island, New York, to spend Thanksgiving with Julie’s parents. It was a daunting new chapter in their lives, as Julie’s husband had left her just days before.

It started to snow as they hit the road, but the journey progressed smoothly despite the weather. By late afternoon, Julie was navigating I-95 just outside the Bronx. Suddenly, the car’s engine sputtered and stopped. She just managed to coast onto the highway’s shoulder.

In the past, her husband would have taken charge, but now, she was on her own. Stranded without a phone and no assistance in sight, Julie said a prayer for courage and reassured her two eldest children that she would seek help while they looked after their younger siblings.

Waving from the side of the highway in hopes someone would stop brought no results. She looked every which way but saw no sign of hope. Finally, she spotted smoke rising from a chimney in the distance. She checked on the kids and hurried off in that direction.

Shivering, she knocked on the house’s door and explained her situation to the woman who answered. As it happened, the woman’s son owned a towing business, and his tow truck was parked nearby. “We’ll get you where you need to go,” he said. He towed the car, with Julie and the kids in the cab beside him, all the way to Long Island.

At her parents’ house, Julie’s mother reassured her, reminding her that she had shown her children that they could count on her. Julie realized that whatever her future held, there was someone she could count on too. Someone who would never leave her stranded.