2 strangers, an act of kindness and a reunion 3 decades later

An act of kindness, particularly from a stranger, can often leave a lasting impression. For Carleton University professor Jesse Stewart, it's lasted close to 30 years.

In Toronto in the mid-90s, Stewart's Chrysler K-car broke down late one Friday. Fortunately, it happened in front of an Esso gas station and service centre.

Unfortunately, it was after hours and the service centre was closed for the weekend.

Thankfully for Stewart, a gas station attendant named Darrell Leon recruited a friend of his — later remembered as Zaf — who knew a thing or two about repairing cars and was able to fix Stewart's broken brake line the following morning.

"These are two total strangers who have offered to help us in our time of need. Two Good Samaritans," Stewart told CBC's All In A Day recently.

The story, and others like it, inspired the Juno Award-winning musician's one-man show, Chance Encounters. He performed it on stage last year at Ottawa's Gladstone Theatre where he also retold this story.

Days before a film version of the show was screened at the Mayfair Theatre last weekend, Stewart and Leon were reunited by email. They spoke for the first time in three decades on All In A Day.

Stewart and Leon meet on stage at the screening of Stewart's film Chance Encounters at the Mayfair Theatre. (Submitted by Michele McMillan)

"I'm glad you reached out because I thought, why does it take 30 years for somebody to pay back $20 of gas I gave?" Leon joked.

He said finding out he'd been memorialized in a play for helping someone in need came as a pleasant surprise.

"In all honesty, I was quite touched. It's like, wow, somebody actually was appreciative that somebody went the extra mile for somebody just out of the kindness of their heart?" Leon said.

Memories come flooding back

During their interview, memories of that night 30 years ago came flooding back.

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"I thought, this guy's going to need help. He's in a K-car," Leon laughed, referring to the inexpensive but sometimes problematic Chrysler model. "I grew up in the '80s. I know the K-cars."

Leon said he mostly remembers how humble and kind Stewart was that night.

Stewart said he still carries that decades-old memory around for a number of reasons.

"When I went to stop at a red light, the car just kept going and the brake line had snapped, so that was such a terrifying moment for me," he said. "I say in the show that I still have nightmares about it."

Leon and his friend Zaf really helped turn his night around, Stewart recalled.

"It was such a remarkable stroke of good fortune to stop in front of a gas station and there was someone on duty, and Darrell was so kind to help me out."

Stewart shared one behind-the-scenes moment from that night that didn't make it into the play, prompted by an ad at the gas station that featured the Esso tiger and the tagline: "Did we earn our stripes today?"

"I remember saying to you, 'I really feel like you went so above and beyond, you've really earned your stripes,'" Stewart told Leon.

He said he remembers Leon responding: "You know, we don't really need a corporate logo to be kind to one another."

"It's funny that I said that 30 years ago, and I still live by that," Leon replied. "You gotta live life as an honourable person and help people."