This story is part of the My Unsung Hero series, from the Hidden Brain team. It features stories of people whose kindness left a lasting impression on someone else.
In May 2001, Brad Larsen's family gathered at a diner in Manhattan to celebrate his graduation from New York University. That would be the last time he saw his mom — she died suddenly, just two weeks later.
About four years after her death, Larsen was back in New York and decided to return to the diner, as a way to connect with her again.
"I actually was a little afraid to go in, so I walked around the block several times. I remember feeling very anxious about that," Larsen recalled.
The dining room was closed, so he took a seat at the small bar. There were five or six other patrons sitting alongside him, who chatted amongst themselves and with the bartender.
"I was quiet," Larsen said. "And I felt like an interloper because everyone was engaged in talking, drinking, laughing, whatever they were doing."
At some point, everyone's attention turned toward Larsen. The bartender asked him who he was and what brought him to the bar that night.
"I shared that that was the last place that I had seen my mother," Larsen said. "And I remember them just immediately wanting to know my story."
Over a few rounds of drinks, he told them all about his mom, Barbara. He told them how before having children, she was a second grade teacher. How she had a great laugh and that she was fiercely protective of him, her youngest child. And that she had died suddenly and unexpectedly.
"They were loving and interested, and I was a total stranger. But they were very kind," Larsen recalled. "They held the gravity of the situation with me."
At some point, the bartender asked Larsen if he remembered where he had sat when he was there with his family. Larsen did remember. And so, the bartender invited him to revisit the table where he'd last seen his mom.
The dining room was closed, but the bartender unhooked the velvet rope that closed off the dining area and let Larsen go find the table.
" It was quiet," Larsen remembered. "It was dark. It was peaceful."
When Larsen sat down, he was overcome by a wave of grief.
"I just began to cry, pretty profoundly," Larsen said. "[I was] really missing my mother and feeling grateful to connect with her."
That gift of connection, from a group of total strangers, has stayed with him for the last 20 years.
"It just seemed so meaningful and generous and gracious," Larsen said. "This collective of people ... They gave me this moment with my mother. And that's magical. That's so, so loving."
My Unsung Hero is also a podcast — new episodes are released every Tuesday. To share the story of your unsung hero with the Hidden Brain team, record a voice memo on your phone and send it to myunsunghero@hiddenbrain.org.
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