Ed Gaffigan Met Pain and Then Became the Kind Stranger

The story

Ed Gaffigan told The Moth he did not want to answer the phone one morning because he was in a world of pain. Many good days fail to start.

The hour was built around strangers changing a life. When an editor later said Ed himself was the kind stranger in the story, the compliment was a mirror.

What happened next

He kept working on a memoir. The useful public fact is that a person in pain can still be someone else’s turning point.

A lesson you can use this week

You do not have to feel healed to be useful. Make one call while you are still tender.

Sources

The Moth Radio Hour, “The Kindness of Strangers,” featuring Ed Gaffigan.