An Iowa mom took to social media to thank a woman who changed her life when she decided to pick up the mom's tab for nearly $200 worth of groceries.
Danielle Vinson took her young son, Benjamin, to the Hy-Vee supermarket in Cedar Rapids to pick up groceries on Monday before Thanksgiving dinner, KCRG reported.
In a post on Instagram, she described a rough day spent dealing with "boys who love me so, but just don't get it." She decided to take a break at the market with one kid, who she described as "the one that doesn't talk back (yet)."
"After feeding him teething crackers to get through the trip, I placed all our items on the belt, handed the cashier our reusable bags and turned around to a sudden panic while fumbling around my wallet-less diaper bag," she wrote. "Holding my forehead in despair with one hand, I called my husband with the other and pleaded for him to teleport my wallet to me in that moment, when I heard her behind me."
"Keep ringing everything up, I'll take care of it," Vinson quoted the stranger as saying.
Seeing that her bill was $70, with groceries still being rung up, Vinson tried to protest.
"Seriously, don't worry about it," Vinson quoted the woman as saying. "I need to do something for the holidays. Merry Christmas. Enjoy."
She told KCRG that she was taken aback by the woman's act of kindness.
"I just welled up with tears in my eyes, and she kind of looked at me like I was crazy," she told the news station. "I was like, 'I have to give you a hug,' and she's like 'No, no, no you don't need to,' and I just ran over to her and gave her a big hug."
On Instagram, Vinson described the encounter as "the most incredible generosity I've ever experienced in my life."
"You changed my life today, ma'am," she wrote on Instagram. "This moment is now forever engrained in my heart, and every thanksgiving I'm bringing your love to my table. Thank you, from the peaks to the depths of my heart. Thank you."
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