‘How can I help?’: Woman writes touching letter to man who broke into her car

When therapist Nikki Easterling's car was broken into while she was grocery shopping last week in Spokane, Washington, she initially wanted revenge on the culprit, KXLY-TV reported. But she decided to send a different kind of message to the thief.

Easterling told KXLY that, after she and her daughter went grocery shopping last Wednesday, they returned to the car to find her cellphone, money, and a few other items missing.

“I felt vengeful, angry, and wanted my stuff back and wanted a pound of flesh,” Easterling said.

She tracked her phone to a nearby house and sent her husband to get it back.

“He said, ‘I think the guy was really sorry, and I could tell he felt kind of bad,’ ” she said.

Citing her work as a therapist, Easterling said, “I have literally spent my whole adult life working with people that commit these kind of crimes.”

So Easterling decided to help. She wrote the man a letter offering him her forgiveness.

“Hi. Maybe you're struggling in some way, in need. How can I help?” the letter began.

“I don't care what you took from my car or from any place, that never has more value than a life and I want you to hear that from me, someone you took things from,” she told KXLY.

With the letter, she also brought a pizza to the man.

“It felt better than any kind of revenge could have ever felt,” Easterling said.

She said that, in addition to the man, she was also able to meet his mother and family, and they thanked her for her actions.