On Saturday evening, Eli suddenly asked what happened when somebody ran out of lunch money at school. I asked why he wanted to know. He explained that a boy in his class had gone without money for two weeks. While everyone else received pizza, tacos, or chicken nuggets, the boy got a cold cheese sandwich and milk. Eli said everyone could see it, and the boy always ate quickly with his head down.

Then Eli looked toward our shoeboxes and asked whether we could use some of the pennies to help with lunches. I sat silently, thinking about our $872 safety net. My new job wouldn’t start for two weeks, and our first paycheck would come later. We needed that money for groceries, electricity, and gasoline. But I couldn’t forget the image of a little boy hiding his embarrassment over a sandwich.

On Monday, I called the elementary school and spoke with Mrs. Lundquist, the cafeteria worker who had served me lunch when I was a child. She couldn’t reveal names, but she could tell me the total owed by Eli’s second-grade class. Nineteen children owed $861.25. I told her I wanted to pay every cent. Then I explained that I would be bringing the money in pennies.