The woman came up to me after I spoke at the event, a precious friend I’ve known for years—one who has helped me love on the homeless over the past few years, too, with her kindness and donation of gift cards.

The last time I saw her at Christmas, I knew something was amiss, that something had changed due to her lack of eye contact and her evasive way of engaging with me. But she had handed me a Christmas gift for a homeless man who lived in an abandoned house, just the same.

And now, she’s ...