The kindness of strangers: After losing my wife and son, I ate alone one Father’s Day – and another diner paid my bill

‘I’ve got to admit that when I got to my car, I sat inside and had a good weep.’ Composite: Guardian design/Alamy

I lost my wife in 2020 and my son in 2021. A few years later, I was living alone in a retirement complex when I decided to go out one night for dinner. There was a little Vietnamese restaurant nearby that my wife and I used to frequent, which had excellent food and held many happy memories. It just so happened to be Father’s Day.

I dined alone, ordering my usual rice paper rolls. When I went to settle the bill, the lass behind the counter told me my meal had already been paid for.