It was a typical evening at Willow Grove Diner, a small but beloved spot in a quiet town. The neon “Open” sign buzzed above the door, casting a warm red glow over the parking lot. Inside, the cozy atmosphere was alive with the sounds of clinking silverware and the soft hum of country music. Caitlin Clark, the basketball star, had just pulled into the gravel parking lot, hoping to enjoy a quiet meal after a long day. The smell of fresh coffee and fried potatoes wafted through the air as she stepped into the diner, eager to satisfy her hunger. Her stomach had been growling for hours, and it was already past 7 p.m.
As Caitlin entered, she was greeted by a waitress named Sophie, who smiled and told her to sit anywhere she liked. Caitlin picked a small booth by the window and started perusing the plastic menu. Everything on it looked delicious, but the special chicken fried steak with mashed potatoes stood out, reminding her of the hearty meals her aunt used to make on cold nights. She placed her order, and Sophie soon returned with a glass of water and a warm smile, offering coffee to start the meal.
But just as Caitlin was beginning to relax, something unexpected happened. A woman in an apron, named Lydia, emerged from the kitchen and froze when she saw Caitlin sitting at a table. Sophie and Lydia exchanged a few quiet words near the cash register, and Sophie’s expression quickly shifted from confusion to concern. Moments later, Lydia marched over to Caitlin’s table and, with a tight voice, informed her that she wouldn’t be served.
“I’m sorry, but I can’t serve you here,” Lydia said, her face flushed with tension. “I know who you are, Miss Clark. I don’t agree with what you represent, and I don’t feel comfortable having you in my restaurant. This is my place, and I get to decide who eats here.”
The diner fell into an awkward silence. Caitlin, though taken aback, simply looked up, calm and collected. She had dealt with rejection before, but it was still a sting. However, rather than causing a scene or lashing out, she did something no one expected. She took a deep breath, folded the menu, and quietly slid it back into its holder.
“I understand,” Caitlin said, her voice soft. “It’s your business, your choice. Thanks for your honesty.”
She stood up and walked out of the diner, every eye in the room following her. Outside, the cool night air hit her as she sat in her car, her stomach still growling but her heart heavy with the weight of the rejection. But Caitlin didn’t let the anger consume her. Instead, she made a decision that would change everything.
Back in the diner, the tension lingered. Sophie stood by the coffee pot, watching Lydia as she spoke to the other customers. Lydia’s face was set with determination, but Sophie could tell she was unsettled. After all, it was rare for someone to leave so gracefully after being turned away. Sophie felt a knot in her stomach, wondering if they had done the right thing.
That night, as Sophie returned home to her small apartment, she shared the experience with her roommate, Clara. Sophie couldn’t shake the feeling of unease. She had been taught to always show kindness, but Lydia’s decision to turn Caitlin away left her questioning her place in the diner. Clara, however, listened quietly and offered a different perspective.
“Sometimes, the kindest people are the ones who’ve been hurt the most,” Clara said, her voice calm. “Maybe Lydia’s reaction wasn’t about Caitlin at all. Maybe it was about something deeper.”
The next morning, the unexpected began to unfold. When Sophie arrived at the diner, she was shocked to find a crowd of people gathered outside. At first, she thought it was a protest against the diner. But as she got closer, she realized it was something entirely different. People were waiting to get in, eager to try the food. News vans arrived, and reporters started asking questions about the viral story.
Apparently, Caitlin had posted about her experience online. The post read, “Turned away from this gem last night because the owner didn’t vibe with my public image. I respect her right to refuse, but trust me, the chicken fried steak smelled amazing, and everyone inside looked happy. Small businesses are the heart of America, even when they don’t want me. If you’re nearby, give Willow Grove a try.”
The post spread like wildfire, and soon the diner became the most talked-about spot in town. People who had never been to Willow Grove Diner before were now flocking there, hoping to form their own opinions. Sophie watched in disbelief as the diner filled up. Lydia was shocked but also slightly embarrassed, unsure how to react to the sudden attention.
As the day went on, business boomed. The diner was busier than it had ever been, and the staff worked in overdrive to keep up with the influx of customers. Sophie couldn’t help but wonder what Caitlin had been thinking when she made that post. Was it just a clever way to draw attention? Or was there something deeper at play?
The next few days were a whirlwind for Willow Grove. The town’s residents were divided in their opinions. Some saw Caitlin’s actions as a publicity stunt, while others viewed it as a powerful act of kindness. Lydia, meanwhile, struggled with her feelings of guilt. She had judged Caitlin unfairly, and now the diner was thriving thanks to the very person she had turned away.
One day, Lydia received a letter in the mail. It was from Caitlin. As she read it, tears filled her eyes. The letter was full of understanding and compassion, thanking Lydia for her honesty and offering a message of kindness over division. Caitlin wrote, “I didn’t recommend your diner to embarrass you. I think we want the same good lives for people, hope for their kids. I don’t ask you to change your mind about me or serve me again—that’s your right. Just keep doing what you do. It’s bigger than any divide.”
Lydia was moved by Caitlin’s words, and she realized how wrong she had been. She had let her personal biases cloud her judgment, but Caitlin’s grace had shown her the true meaning of kindness. The letter ended with Caitlin expressing a desire to bridge the divide between them, not with anger, but with understanding.
The following Friday, Lydia made a bold decision. She invited Caitlin to dinner at Willow Grove. But this wasn’t just any dinner—it was a chance to apologize and to build a connection. Caitlin accepted the invitation, and when she arrived, she brought a pie as a gesture of goodwill. The two women sat down to a meal, and over the course of the evening, they shared stories, laughter, and even some tears. Clara, who had been friends with Caitlin’s aunt, Ruth, shared photos and memories from their childhood, further deepening the bond between them.
By the end of the night, something incredible had happened. Not only had Lydia and Caitlin reconciled, but they had also formed a lasting friendship. Caitlin’s act of kindness had completely transformed Willow Grove Diner, bringing new energy to the small town and proving that even in the face of rejection, kindness could build bridges.
In the months that followed, Willow Grove Diner became a symbol of community and second chances. With Caitlin’s help, Lydia was able to secure a loan to renovate the diner, creating more jobs and providing a space where everyone was welcome, no matter their background. The diner’s success continued to grow, but it wasn’t just about the food—it was about the spirit of unity that had been sparked by one small act of kindness.
Caitlin Clark’s story is a reminder that sometimes the most unexpected moments can lead to the most profound changes. Her decision to respond to rejection with kindness not only reshaped one diner, but it also brought a community together. In a world often divided, Caitlin showed that kindness has the power to connect us all.
Caitlin Clark was a grade-school phenom. And now she is close to breaking the NCAA Division 1 scoring record.
Iowa guard Caitlin Clark.Charlie Neibergall/Associated Press
IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Caitlin Clark’s skills were so advanced when she was in grade school that her parents signed her up to play on boys teams. By the time she entered middle school she was well-known in basketball circles across Iowa.
This was long before Clark became one of the faces of women’s basketball and, now, on the cusp of setting the NCAA Division I scoring record.
Clark was in sixth grade when Jan Jensen first heard about her. Not long after, Iowa’s associate head coach and chief recruiter went to watch the prodigy from West Des Moines.
She saw a confident player making pinpoint passes often too hot for her teammates to handle, someone who was creative on drives to the hoop and of course someone willing to launch the deep 3-pointers that would become her signature and one of the reasons she’s one of the United States’ highest-profile female athletes.
“It didn’t take but a second, maybe a minute,” Jensen said. “That little step-back sassy 3, this little seventh-, eighth-grader. Yeah, she’s diff. You could just tell. They’re easy to identify but really hard to get. Everybody can see the true, true ones. The trick is to get them.”
Clark needs 66 points to break the NCAA career record of 3,527 by Washington’s Kelsey Plum (2013-17). The Hawkeyes play Penn State at home on Thursday. With an average of 32.4 points per game, Clark is on track to break the record at Nebraska on Sunday or Feb. 15 at home against Michigan.
“I didn’t predict this to happen, but just knowing her work ethic, knowing her passion for the sport, knowing her fearlessness, I’m really not surprised,” said Kristin Meyer, who coached Clark from 2016-20 at Dowling Catholic High in West Des Moines. “More than anything, I’m so happy for her to get to accomplish all of these things, to grow the sport and to grow the popularity of women’s basketball and also the state of Iowa.”
The daughter of Brent Clark and Anne Nizzi-Clark grew up as the middle child in a sports-centric family. Caitlin said when she first started playing basketball, she would cry after every game her team lost.
“That’s because of how much I cared,” she said in an interview with The Associated Press. “I’m like 6 years old and it didn’t matter, obviously. But it mattered to me.”
That passion for winning took root when she and brothers Blake and Colin played board games and all kinds of sports against each other. She recalled a basement Nerf basketball game with Colin that got overheated.
“I just threw him into the wall,” she said. “He went flying and his head slapped into it. He put his hand back and it was just full of blood. He runs upstairs to my mom. She goes and gets a bunch of staples in his head.”
Meyer was preparing for her first year as Dowling High coach in 2016 when she first heard about a “stud eighth-grader” who would be joining the team.
“I was, ‘OK, that’s nice. We’ll have a good player,’” Meyer said.
And then she went to watch Clark’s AAU club the spring before her freshman year — “Oh, she’s real good,” Meyer remembers thinking — and realized she would build her first team around Clark.
Coaching Clark was sometimes a challenge, Meyer said, because she was so advanced in her skills and basketball IQ. As has happened during her career at Iowa, Clark would show frustration if the target of one of her passes wasn’t ready to catch it or if a play didn’t unfold as designed.
“There were times the competitiveness of her kind of took over or she wasn’t as patient,” Meyer said, “but every high schooler has to grow through some things and, looking back, her skill level was on a different level than other people, so it was harder for her at times.”
Clark, who never won a high school state title, ranks No. 4 on the Iowa high school five-on-five career scoring chart with 2,547 points. Many Iowa schools played six-on-six into the 1980s and ‘90s.
Clark’s AAU team, the All-Iowa Attack, won the 2018 Nike GEYBL national championship and was runner-up in 2017 and 2019. She won gold medals at the international level with the USA Under 16 and U19 teams.
One of her few disappointments — and another source of motivation — came the summer after her sophomore season when she was left off the 12-player roster for the USA U17 team.
“She’s one who loves a challenge and then responds to it,” Meyer said. “She took a big step between her sophomore and junior year, and a lot of that was due to not making the team.”
Clark was Gatorade National Player of the Year after averaging 32.6 points per game as a junior. Her defining high school game came late that season at Mason City, where she made a state-record 13 3-pointers, on 17 attempts, and scored 60 points, one off the state record.
By then, Clark was a consensus five-star prospect and receiving attention from almost every major program. The Hawkeyes ultimately won out over Notre Dame.
Megan Meyer (no relation to Kristin), who played AAU ball with Clark and was her teammate at Iowa for a year, was one of the Mason City players who tried to defend her. Mason City was no pushover, and most of Clark’s shots were contested in the 32-minute game.
“I remember thinking, ‘How in the world can somebody score 60 points in a high school basketball game?’” Megan Meyer said.
Clark hit six 3s and scored 25 points in the first quarter alone. When the game ended, the Mason City student section lined up to get her autograph, same as fans do after Iowa games now.
“That game, I’m sure, had a lot of foreshadowing of what was to come,” Jensen said.
