Waitress Overhears Diners Who Just Lost Everything, Hands Them Folded Note on Their Way Out
The havoc wreaked on the Gulf Coast of Texas by Hurricane Harvey began on August 17, 2017. Even though it has been nearly 2 years, those directly affected by the devastation still remember the disaster as if it happened yesterday.
So many lost so much and in turn, numerous kind individuals reached out to lend a helping hand.
A waitress who worked at Sam’s Restaurant in Fairfield, Texas, was one of those people.
Mary Gough was waiting tables when she encountered Carlos Sepeda Jr. and his wife Tammy — a couple who survived Harvey but said goodbye to the home they loved because of it.
Sepeda shared the story of what happened next on Facebook.
“This is how I know Texas is great!” he wrote, explaining how his mother-in-law took him and his wife to Sam’s Restaurant following evacuation.
“Our waitress who we had never met before waited on us and heard about our situation,” Sepeda said. “She handed my wife this paper, we did not look at it till we got to the parking lot.”
Sepeda and his wife had no idea what the paper held. They never expected it would contain a gift between its folds, accompanied with kind words they’ve continued to cherish.
“We opened the note to see a 100 dollar bill we walked back in to tell her we could not take her money,” Sepeda said. “Her reply was she had gone to the back and prayed on it and she refused to take the money back.”
Gough’s note was short and sweet but made such an impact on this family. “This isn’t much compared to your loss,” it read. “Buy you something special. God bless — my prayers are w/u. Mary.”
Gough went a step further and offered Sepeda and his wife a table and some chairs. Sepeda invited everyone he knew in the area to head to Sam’s Restaurant, ask for Mary and “tip her well and show Texas gratitude!”
“This is what Texas pride is made of!” he added.
After a year had passed, the Sepedas didn’t forget Mary Gough and her kindness to them.
“I don’t have Facebook I had no idea that it would be on Facebook,” Gough told Dallas News at the time. “That was just out of my heart and it made her feel better. I just knew I wanted to help somebody feel better, and I would do it again if I felt the need to.”
On the 1-year anniversary of Harvey, Tammy Sepeda shared their viral story once again and thanked Gough for her compassion.
“We couldn’t think of a better way to remember the 1 year anniversary of Harvey, than to remember Mary & what she did for us,” Tammy wrote on Facebook.
“Thank you Mary Gough for everything you’ve done. Your kindness has changed our lives forever. God bless you!”
Liftable, a section of The Western Journal, reached out to the Sepedas and Mary Gough for updated comments but has not heard back.
Are you inspired by this woman’s selfless act toward a pair of strangers? Perhaps Mary’s story will encourage you to step out in faith and pay it forward for someone in need.
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