He gave me a ray of hope when I needed it most

It had been a miserable day, and I was exhausted. I had just spent 14 hours in the emergency room at the hospital, waiting for my husband to be assessed, admitted and then waiting for a room to be available. By the time he had been settled, it was 1 a.m., and the valet service was no longer in service.

However, an escort service was available. The young man on duty offered to see me to my car. I was so relieved to have someone to talk to, as well as give me a "helping hand," after all the stress I was experiencing that I just poured out my troubles to him.

After we reached my car, he did something that touched my heart in a most personal way:

He gently hugged me and said, "May God be with you."

As I drove home, my spirit was revived. Thank you, my nameless angel.

-- ROSE ANN WILLIAMS, Monroeville

When a long security line at the airport loomed, these gentlemen allowed me make my plane

At 5:30 a.m. on Saturday, Oct. 13, I came off the escalator from the Pittsburgh Hyatt Airport Hotel to a line of hundreds of people waiting to pass through security. Behind me, literally hundreds more were joining this unimaginably long line.

I was heading to New Orleans to assist in the recovery effort with the Unitarian-Universalist Churches of Pittsburgh. I had to make that plane!

How could I get upstairs, check my bag and get back into line and make the plane?

Standing behind me were three gentlemen headed for a weekend of golf in Myrtle Beach. "Go ahead and check your bag and we will save you a place in line," they said.

Upstairs to an also-crowded check-in counter, I succeeded in checking in and raced back to the security line. These wonderful gentlemen had, indeed, saved me a place.

It took one hour from the time I entered the line to passing through the security checkpoint.

I may never have made the plane to New Orleans had it not been for three very kind and considerate Pittsburghers.

Thank you, true gentlemen!

-- JEANIE SNODGRASS, Greensburg

In the middle of road -- and he braved traffic to clear it

On my morning commute along Route 28 South, traffic slowed in the left lane just after Etna, as cars shifted to avoid the vehicle stopped in the left lane. This wasn't a typical breakdown: the driver had stopped to avoid hitting a lawn chair obstructing the left lane. From its mangled look, several cars had hit the chair already.

But here's the tremendously brave thing:

This motorist didn't just swerve or merge around the chair. He got out of his car and retrieved it from the road, risking his own life to protect the rest of us.

According to AAA, an estimated 25,000 crashes per year in North America are caused by road debris -- 80 to 90 of these are fatalities.

Thanks to one good Samaritan, no one got hurt on Route 28 on Monday, Nov. 5. Thank you.

-- NATALIE GILLESPIE, Aspinwall