Shine OnSingle mom brought to tears after stranger pays for Pizza Hut bill, leaves note
A North Carolina single mother and domestic abuse survivor was brought to tears at a local Pizza Hut after a stranger paid for her family's bill and left her a heartwarming note.
The Raleigh, N.C., mother, who wishes to remain anonymous because she is a domestic abuse victim, tells ABC that she is used to attracting attention on her weekly restaurant outings with her three kids. Her six-year-old son has Asperger's and ADHD, while her four-year-old daughter was recently accused of bullying -- both of which tend to create a loud and chaotic scene.
When the woman settled into Pizza Hut with her kids last Friday, she says she did her best to make sure her kids behaved, and apologized in advance to a young man sitting nearby, anticipating her kids would disturb him. The man told her not to worry, as he had three kids of his own and could relate.
After the man finished his meal and left, the waitress and manager came to the mother's table to tell her that he paid the family’s bill and left them with a Pizza Hut gift card, as well as a handwritten note that read:
I do not know your back story, but I have had the privilege of watching you parent your children for the past 30 minutes. I have to say thank you for parenting your children in such a loving manner.
I have watched you teach your children about the importance of respect, education, proper manners, communication, self control, and kindness all while being very patient. I will never cross your path again but am positive that you and your children have amazing futures.
Keep up the good work and when it starts to get tough do not forget that others may be watching and will need the encouragement of seeing a good family being raised. God bless! -Jake.
The man apparently asked restaurant staff for a pen and paper shortly after the family sat down at their table. He wrote his note on the back of three receipts.
The mother, who says she's been going through a particularly difficult few years, was visibly touched by the man's gesture.
"You just don't know what people go through," she says through tears. "Here I've had the worst few years of my life, and I never get recognition like this. I just do what I can to get by."
This man's random act of kindness follows a recent string of similar acts where a person has footed the bill for an unsuspecting stranger.
Earlier this month, a man paid the restaurant bill of a woman who had just received bad medical news. He overheard the woman's cell phone conversation where she received the news and broke into tears.
And in August, a stranger paid a man's baggage fee at a Tampa airport after his credit card was declined.
