A young mom at her wits' tossed out her dirty dishes. Then they turned up clean

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+ Fresh Air Wild Card with Rachel Martin It's Been a Minute Planet Money Get NPR+ More Podcasts & Shows Search Newsletters NPR Shop Tiny Desk New Music Friday All Songs Considered Music Features Live Sessions About NPR Diversity Support Careers Press Ethics A young mom at her wits' end tossed out her dirty dishes. Then they turned up clean A young mother felt overwhelmed raising her three kids alone.

+ National A young mom at her wits' end tossed out her dirty dishes. Then they turned up clean May 8, 20264:09 PM ET Heard on All Things Considered Jordan-Marie Smith A young mom at her wits' tossed out her dirty dishes. Then they turned up clean Listen &middot; 2:57 2:57 Transcript Toggle more options Download Embed Embed "> <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/nx-s1-5806129/nx-s1-9763079" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript A young mother felt overwhelmed raising her three kids alone. Unable to face a sink full of dirty dishes, she threw them out. A neighbor returned them, washed and shiny, along with a message of hope. Sponsor Message SCOTT DETROW, HOST: Time now for My Unsung Hero, our series from the team at Hidden Brain. My Unsung Hero tells stories of people whose kindness left a lasting impression on someone else. Today's story is one we first shared with you in 2024, and we are re-airing it in honor of Mother's Day this Sunday. It comes from Bethany Renfree.

+ BETHANY RENFREE: I was 20 years old. My baby girls and I were living in low-income apartments. Most of my neighbors were single mothers like myself. And I remember how overwhelmed I felt that morning. It was a cold day in the apartment. I dragged myself to the sink, and it was stacked with dishes, with pots and pans that had been soaking 'cause I had burnt them all. I didn't know how to cook back then, and I would always burn our pans. And I looked at my twin girls. They were 18 months old. They sat in their highchairs. The baby, the newborn, was in her swing. I looked back at the sink, and I just couldn't bring myself to do those dishes, and I couldn't look at them any longer. It was a reminder of how overwhelmed I felt in my own life. So I grabbed a white garbage bag, and I stacked the dishes in there one by one. I walked out in the rain, and I placed it on the edge of the apartment dumpster because the dumpster was full. And I came back in, and the girls and I left for the day. When I got back that evening, it was dark. And my porch was dark because I didn't even have the energy to change the porch light. But as we were coming in, I kind of kicked something. It was a box. And so I brought it into the apartment and put it on the table, and it was my pots and pans, and they were shining and sparkling, and the girls' "Blue's Clues" plates and their sippy cups. And a little handwritten note popped out on a yellow piece of paper, and it said, I've been there before. You will make it, I promise you. (SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) RENFREE: I don't know which of the single mothers went out there that day and saw that garbage bag and understood what was happening. But if I saw her today, I would thank her for showing me that we are not alone and we are not bad mothers, even in our hardest moments. We are surrounded by kindness and understanding, and I am so grateful to have learned that lesson so early on in motherhood. DETROW: Bethany Renfree lives in Sutter Creek, California. When she was 27, she went back to school and earned undergraduate and master's degrees. She's now a legislative director in the California State Senate. You can find more stories of Unsung Heroes and learn how to submit your own at hiddenbrain.org. (SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Copyright &copy; 2026 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information. Accuracy and availability of NPR transcripts may vary. Transcript text may be revised to correct errors or match updates to audio. Audio on npr.org may be edited after its original broadcast or publication. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record. Facebook Flipboard Email Read & Listen Home News Culture Music Podcasts & Shows Connect Newsletters Facebook Instagram Press Public Editor Corrections Transcripts Contact & Help About NPR Overview Diversity NPR Network Accessibility Ethics Finances Get Involved Support Public Radio Sponsor NPR NPR Careers NPR Shop NPR Extra Terms of Use Privacy Your Privacy Choices Text Only Sponsor Message Sponsor Message Become an NPR sponsor (function () { var loadPageJs = function () { (window.webpackJsonp=window.webpackJsonp||[]).push([[22],{1168:function(e,n,c){e.exports=c(321)},321:function(e,n,c){"use strict";c.p=NPR.serverVars.webpackPublicPath,Promise.all([c.e(1),c.e(2),c.e(3),c.e(4),c.e(82)]).then(function(e){c(3),c(1141),c(116),c(95),c(52),c(492),c(239),c(102),c(104),c(1142),c(144),c(1143),c(238),c(48),c(1144)}.bind(null,c)).catch(c.oe)}},[[1168,0]]]); }; if (document.readyState === 'complete') { loadPageJs(); } else { window.addEventListener('load', function load() { window.removeEventListener('load', load, false); loadPageJs(); }); } })();