Huh... What goes around comes around

Tonight we went to our favorite "round the corner" restaurant (it's less than 5 minutes from our house). Everyone was in a rare good mood; usually there is at least one child that goes along reluctantly, with arms crossed, to the chosen restaurant, but tonight, everyone agreed on Little Rebel. Cool.

So we ordered. We chatted with the kids. We laughed with them as they recounted their experiences from today. We enjoyed the pre-meal interaction.

The food came, and everyone ate well. Cool again. Usually someone leaves too much food on the plate, but everyone was hungry tonight.

We had a friendly, upbeat, on her toes waitress. None of us ever grew thirsty or had an empty cup. That's usually the case at Little Rebel, though. Good food, good service, friendly people and it's family owned (which, according to Aiden, is the sign of a great restaurant!)

Time came for us to leave. Our waitress stopped at the table to tell us that someone had paid for our meal. It was a gentleman who had dined alone in the booth beside ours. I noticed him looking at us while we ate, but we get looks like that a lot because of the number of children we have. I never thought anything more of it.

Needless to say, I was stunned. Not stunned in a bad way, but shocked that someone else had paid for us. I have been on the giving end, but never on the receiving end of such kindness. It was awesome to know how that felt, and I was surprised at how humbling it was. I wanted to thank the man, but he'd already left the restaurant. I am so grateful for his gift, and for the impression it left on my family. I know we'll always remember tonight.