A stranger's generosity and Growing in Unity Day 4

Today is day 4 of growing in Unity!  I have a card to share, but first a little story.  One that truly makes you step back and take a look at your life, be thankful for what you have, and give that little extra each and every day to be kind and loving to those around you.  This isn't a sad story...although I will tell you that when it happened to us, it made me cry.  I wasn't crying tears of sadness, but because of how this one stranger was so thoughtful, kind, selfless and how it touched my heart so very much.

Last night my family and I attended a Dine to Donate event at our local Applebee's to raise funds for the youth football program in town, that my son is a member of.  I figured the place would be mobbed (which it was) and that the wait would be long (which it was) and since Kelsey & I had hair appointments at 8:00 I asked Bob to go right from work and put our names in.  The kids and I were at football practice and planned on meeting him as soon as practice was let out.  

There was already a wait when Bob arrived so he put our names on the list and sat down at the bar.  Now he was coming right from work so he was still in uniform.  He sat down next to another man and as guys do over a beer they started talking.  Not about anything in particular.  The gentleman asked him why he was in uniform (which he explained as I did above) and about his family.  No biggie.  In the meantime we arrived, our table was called and Bob ended his conversation with the man. 

During dinner we were approached by a waitress (or could have been the manager, bartender...not sure) who handed Bob a gift card and told him it was from the gentleman at the bar.  He had already left and didn't want his name revealed, nor any thanks.  He just wanted to thank Bob for his service and their conversation and wanted our family to enjoy dinner on him (this is where I started crying...right there in a packed restaurant).   Let's just say that this man was very generous and his gift paid for our meal and drinks.  Since the woman that presented the gift card knew this gentleman personally, we did ask that she thank him profusely and to please make sure he knew how grateful we were for his kindness. We have gone several places with Bob in uniform before and this has never happened to us as a family (he had a similar experience in Wisconsin a few weeks ago on a military trip), not that I would ever expect it to.

I am still without words.  People in this world can be so mean, and this one man, with his act of kindness put many things in perspective for me and allowed me to teach my children a very valuable lesson in kindness and generosity.

I wish we could thank him, but since I don't really know how I could I will pay it forward at the right time.

In honor of his kindness and beautiful spirit, I created this card for GIU Day 4...enjoy!

Images are from Bevy of Butterflies and the design is from Mojo Monday (#153).  Don't forget to leave me some bloggy love for your chance to win some Unity goodness.  I will pick the winner on Sunday.

Please take the time today to go out and do something kind for someone,

Tracy