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| Out for dinner: The mom, who asked not to be named, had taken her three kids - two of whom have special needs - to the pizza chain in Durham, North Carolina, pictured, last Friday. |
'You and your children have amazing futures': Kindhearted stranger pays for family's dinner after watching single mom 'lovingly' parent kids.
- The mom had taken her kids - two of
whom have special needs - to the pizza chain in Durham, North Carolina,
last Friday
- A young man, sitting nearby, paid the
family's bill and left them with a Pizza Hut gift card
- In a three-page note, he wrote: '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...'
- The mom, who didn't want to be
identified because she's a domestic violence victim, was so moved by the
gesture she went to the press to thank the kindhearted 'Jake'
- 'Here I've had the worst few years of
my life and I never get recognition like this... I want him and his family
to know that he's awesome,' she said
A tireless single mom got the shock of
a lifetime last week when a kindhearted stranger paid for her family's dinner
at Pizza Hut and left a three-page note applauding her 'loving' parenting.
The mom, who
asked not to be named, had taken her three kids - two of whom have special
needs - to the pizza chain in Durham, North Carolina, last Friday when she saw
a young man sitting alone in a nearby booth and went up to him to apologize for
the noise her kids would no doubt make.
He told her not
to worry, and that he had three little ones of his own so could relate.
According to ABC11, the mom went back to her table, thinking
nothing more of it as she worked hard to engage her four-year-old daughter whom
she recently learned has bullying tendencies, and her six-year-old son who has
Asperger's and ADHD, keeping them on their best behavior through-out the meal.
After the man
finished up his pizza and left, a waitress came over to the family and told her
the young man had paid the family's bill and left them with a Pizza Hut gift
card.
The waitress also
said he'd asked for some paper and a pen soon after the family sat down and
then handed the mom the three-page letter he'd written.
With tears
streaming down her face, the mother and the waitress, who was at this point
also sobbing, read the note together: 'I do not know your back story, but I
have had the privilege of watching you parent your children for the past 30
minutes,' the note read.
'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'
So moved by the
gesture, the mom wrote to ABC11 to share the heart-warming story. She explained
that the past few years had been very trying for her family, with a messy
divorce, constantly moving house and her college student had to take a year off
from school.
She said she was
also the victim of domestic violence, which is why she didn't want to be
identified.
'You just don't
know what people go through,' she told ABC11. '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.
'I want him and
his family to know that he's awesome. You never know who's watching you.'
