In 2007, Jolena Rothweil was in the midst of a divorce. The process was overwhelming and expensive; most of her paycheck was going to her lawyer fees.
"I had just gotten backed into a corner where I felt like I was drowning," Rothweil said. "I didn't have any extra money for food or gas."
One especially difficult week, with her bank account empty, she asked a friend at work, Steve Green, if she could borrow twenty dollars to make it to payday. He said he'd be happy to help.
"Fast forward to the next morning, and on my desk is a little note with $200 in it. And all it said is, 'You can't pay it back, but you can pay it forward,'" she said.
Rothweil cried as she held the note in her hands.
"His gift made me really feel seen in what I was going through," she said.
A few years later, two of her friends, a married couple, were facing their own financial struggles. He was underemployed; she had just lost her job. They weren't sure how they would pay their heating bills, or buy presents for Christmas. Their worries brought her back to her own conversation with Green.
"I understood the stress I heard in their voices; it was the same stress I had expressed to Steve," Rothweil recalled.
"And so, remembering my coworker's note, I went and I got $200, and I made a photocopy of his note, which I still have. And I slipped it in an envelope."
The next time she went over to their house to visit, she handed them the envelope on her way out. When she saw them again a week or so later, the husband wrapped her in a hug.
"I knew the feeling they were feeling. That relief of knowing that you've got at least a Band-Aid," she said.
And then the chain continued. Inspired by Rothweil's gift — and the note that started it all — the couple went on to help someone else in need.
"He made a point of coming to me and telling me that they had been able to help someone out with the same sentiment," she said.
Today, almost 20 years later, Rothweil is happily remarried. She says she still remembers reading that note, and how it helped her take the next step.
"It felt like a lifeline," she said. "And it felt like I wasn't trying to do this alone."
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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