IN GOODNESS AMERICA

In the driveway of a stranger’s house in Crofton, Maryland, Mary Latham and I admire her late mother’s Subaru. For three years, Latham has driven the blue hatchback across America, and she shows me the 40-plus stickers that cover the back of the car — decals from Colorado and Connecticut, from Washington, D.C. and Washington state, from locations she’s visited throughout her 43,000-mile trek. Latham’s quest: To collect stories of human kindness in all 50 states, a trip inspired by her mom, who died in 2013. After the 2012 shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary in Connecticut that killed 26 people, Latham’s mom told her, “Mary, there are always going to be tragedies in the world, but there will always be more good — you just have to look for it.”