'God Only Gives Special Children to Special People' - Family With Special Needs Child Receives Inspirational Note at Restaurant
A stranger at a North Carolina restaurant left a touching reminder of God's love to a mother of a special needs child last week, and a photo of a note showing the kind message has since gone viral.
Ashley England was dining with her family, including her husband, two sons, mother and grandmother at the Stag 'n Doe Pizza House restaurant in China Grove, North Carolina last Friday, when her eldest son, 8-year-old Riley, suffering from hunger pangs, started to become frustrated. Riley, described by his mother as a special needs child, suffers from epilepsy and is non-verbal; in addition, he has been through three major brain surgeries to counter his epilepsy.
As Riley grew more irritable, he began to reportedly make screeching noises, throwing his mom's phone on the floor after he could not access Netlix to watch a calming show. As England tried to soothe her son's mood, a waitress reportedly approached the table with tears in her eyes, telling the family that a fellow customer had paid for their dinner bill. Along with the heartwarming news came a note from the stranger which read: "God only gives special children to special people."
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"I just broke down, the past month has just been so hard," England told CNN regarding the note, saying that recently it has become more difficult for Riley to be out in public. "[The stranger] just doesn't know what we've been going through and how much it was needed at the moment," England added.
England additionally told the local WBTV station that she feels that small act of kindness has completely "blessed" her family and made up for all the negative comments they have received in the past.
"To have someone do that small act towards us shows that some people absolutely understand what we are going through and how hard it is to face the public sometimes," she said. "They made me cry, blessed me more than they know - I felt like out of all the rude negative comments that we are faced with - these outweighs them. The people who care!"
England reportedly hopes to return to the restaurant to thank the stranger in person; she posted on her Facebook page shortly after Friday's "blessing" that she is thankful to the man who left the note, writing: "Dear stranger, thank you for giving me a blessing tonight in a way you will never know."
England's posting of the note has since gone viral on the Internet.
There have recently been many inspirational stories regarding Good Samaritan acts at restaurants across the nation. Late last month, a generous tipper in Ogden, Utah left a $5,000 tip on a $214 bar tab one night, and then a few nights later, a $1,000 tip on a $49 bar tab. In Albuquerque, New Mexico back in May, a restaurant owner was returned the $40 tab he paid for a young, poor patron 16 years ago.
