When I was 25, I watched my mom, Cathy — known to our town as the Cookie Lady — get fired from Beller’s Bakery for giving two leftover muffins and some bread to a homeless veteran. Her new manager, Derek, called it “theft.” She came home that night with flour still on her apron, trying to hide her tears. “It’s alright,” she told me. “I have more good in me than he has power.” I carried that moment like a stone in my pocket for the next ten years.

Life moved on. I started a food-tech company that partnered with bakeries to donate surplus food to shelters — no gray areas, no policy excuses. One day, while hiring an operations manager, I saw a familiar name: Derek. His resume was polished, but his job history was short-term gigs since Beller’s. He had no idea who I was. I scheduled the interview.

Derek sat across from me, smug as ever, bragging about firing “an older woman” for giving away baked goods. “Tough call, but necessary,” he said. I let him finish, then told him, “That older woman was my mother.” His smirk vanished. “There’s no job here for you,” I said, “but the shelter could use someone who knows how to handle day-old muffins.” He left without another word, and for the first time in a decade, the weight in my chest lifted.

Later, I called Mom. She laughed when I told her who applied, then went quiet. “You didn’t do it for me,” she said softly. “You did it for that kid who saw his mom come home in tears.” She was right — but I also did it because she’d built something better. Today, Mom runs our community outreach team, handing out bread with that same gentle smile. People say karma works in mysterious ways, but sometimes, she works through us.