Stranger moves struggling single mother to tears with touching note, free pizza

“The only way to tell the truth is to speak with kindness. Only the words of a loving man can be heard.” – Henry David Thoreau

An unidentified single mother from Raleigh, North Carolina shared a heartwarming story with her local news affiliate about how wonderful and impactful the kindness of strangers can be.

ABC 11 received a letter from the woman, who chose to remain anonymous because she is a survivor of domestic abuse, about her recent weekly family dinner night out to an area Pizza Hut that turned into a very special evening, all thanks to a man only known to the world as Jake.

The mother relayed just how difficult the last 5 years had been for her. She’s going through what she labeled as a messy divorce and has had to move her family several times forcing her to take a year off from her goal of graduating college. In addition, she said she recently discovered that her 6-year-old son is living with Asperger’s and ADH and that her 4-year-old daughter has bullying tendencies.

When her family entered the restaurant she noticed a young man sitting by himself in a booth nearby. She anticipated some possible rowdiness from her 3 kids and apologized to the man in advance, as she says she normally would, for any distractions that her children might cause. The man told her not to worry about it and that he had 3 kids of his own and could relate.

The woman went on about the business of dinner with her children, all the while doing her best to keep them engaged and behaving. In other words, she was being a good mom.

The young man got up from his meal and left without a word. Shortly after the waitress and the store manager came to the woman’s table. The stranger had asked the staff for some sheets of paper, purchased her meal and also bought her a gift card. She started tearing up upon finding out about what he had done. As the waitress joined in to read the note, she also began crying.

It 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”

When the woman was interviewed by ABC11, she said to Jake, “I want him and his family to know that he’s awesome. You never know who’s watching you and the greatest displays of integrity and pure, core of who you are, are when you don’t think someone’s watching you.”

Images: ABC11 / Facebook