Lee & Emmi Pierce: Act of kindness sincerely appreciated; looking forward to passing it on

My wife and I went to Applebee’s in Merced for a meal on the evening of Sept. 2. Shortly after we were seated, a lady with her three children arrived and were seated at a table across from our booth. She and her children finished eating before we did, and as she left she smiled and wished us a good evening. When we asked our waitress for our check, she said the lady with three children had already paid our bill. It was a most kind, considerate and unexpected action on her part.

We did not know this lady and had never seen her before. We believe she probably heard my wife tell the waitress that we were there to celebrate my 86th birthday and our 64th wedding anniversary, and she used this as a way to participate in our celebration.

Since we had no opportunity to express our sincere thanks and gratitude, our hope is she will see this letter and will know that what she did deeply touched each of us and that we appreciate her kindness, and we will pass along the thoughtful action to someone else.

This story was originally published September 7, 2016 at 11:47 AM with the headline "Lee & Emmi Pierce: Act of kindness sincerely appreciated; looking forward to passing it on."