My daughter Mary and I were in Fredericton to renew our Passports and decided to go for lunch. Not knowing many of the restaurants there, we ended up going to the mall and picked one there. The diner was not full, so when we walked in I noticed the only person sitting on the right. We picked a table across the room from him. We sat down and ordered our food.
It was a good mother/daughter day, so we talked about everything under the sun and laughed as we ate. The waitress came over to see if we wanted desert. We decided not to, so I asked her for the bill. She informed us that there was none. “What do you mean “. we asked in surprise. Well the gentleman that was sitting over there (and she pointed across the room) when he paid for his own, asked to have your bill included and he paid it for you.
My daughter and I looked at each other with astonishment…then looked at her with huge smiles that came from the feelings that we felt. “Did you know him”, she asked. No, we never saw him before. However, because he was the only one visible to us when we ate, I had glanced at him several times. He was in his 20′s, wore a toque and was dressed I would say like a country boy. “Did he say anything”, I asked. “Nothing really”, she answered, “just to wish you a Merry Christmas”.
None of the details really matter, because the point and importance of this story is how “he” made us feel. It is something that neither one of use will ever forget. Not because our lunch was free (which was nice), but because of the way it made us feel. We were on cloud 9 that whole day and I am whenever I think of it now. How little it takes to make someone feel deep joy.
Francine, New Brunswick, Canada FTZNBMTEF9H9
