We try to take the WHOLE family out for dinner occasionally so we can "practice" our manners and so the children know how to act in a public environment.
On a Thursday we were all at Lakenheath base after a long day of after school activities and decided that we'd better feed the kids before the long 45 minute drive home. We learned long ago that you never put a bunch of tired, hungry kids into a cramped car for any period of time. So eating out was our only option. We went to the steak house at the Officers Club.
We are now a family of 12 and are a spectacle wherever we go, if not for our shear numbers, but we also have 3 Chinese children in the mix. So I'm sure that the entire restaurant saw us walk in. :-) They had to seat us at two separate tables...a large table of 8 and a smaller table for 4. We had the two oldest sit at the 4-seater with their "buddies" (Kai and Levi). I had scooted my rolling chair over to visit them and make sure that they didn't feel left out. As the food started arriving I scooted back over to the big table to enjoy the meal.
We had all finished a delicious dinner and called the waitress over to request the bill. Her reply was "It's been paid." We both said "What?" thinking that surely we'd misunderstood her. To which she replied again "It's already been paid. The gentleman who was sitting over there (pointing to the table next to where the other 4 kids were sitting) paid your bill. Steve and I looked at each other completely stunned! This wasn't a cheap restaurant...we were kind of splurging. Our bill (with meals and sodas) had to have been over $100. We were very grateful but still a little shocked.
We will never be able to thank this man for his generosity but it provided us an opportunity to discuss it with our children and teach them about serving, being kind, thinking of others and that we are blessed for the kind things we do for others. We were also able to talk to them about being grateful for the blessings that we receive. So even though this man will never know how much we appreciated his "gift", we pray that he will be blessed for his kindness.
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2 comments:
WOW!
When Christopher and I were first dating, we went to a tepenyaki style place (the kind where you sit at a table with about 8 other ppl, and they cook in front of you) and there was one rather inebriated couple, and another very friendly older married couple that ended up paying for our meal also. They said they didn't want our memory to be tarnished by the inebriated couple. We have never forgotten them, and 4 months later went back to the same restaurant when Christopher proposed.
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