Poor Boy Pays for Old Lady’s Groceries, His Granny Gets $230k to Pay for Treatment Days Later – Story of the Day

Mary realized she had forgotten her wallet while trying to pay for some groceries, but a kind boy, Mark, paid for her things. Sometime later, Mary and her daughter learned that Mark’s grandmother needed expensive surgery, so they decided to act, shocking the poor kid.

“Oh, geez. I must have forgotten my wallet in John’s car. I’m so sorry. I’ll have to come back for these things later,” Mary said to the cashier, who started picking up the items and putting them back. Meanwhile, Mary closed her purse, prepared to walk away when the boy behind her in line spoke up.

“Wait, ma’am. You don’t have many things anyway. I’ll pay for them,” he said. He couldn’t be older than 12, and Mary noticed that he didn’t look particularly well-off.

For illustration purposes only. | Source: Pexels

For illustration purposes only. | Source: Pexels

“Oh, no. I couldn’t put you out like that,” Mary countered.

“I insist, ma’am. Sometimes, we have to do good things, and karma will reward us later, right? That’s what my grandmother says all the time,” the boy said, placing his few things on the belt and paying for everything that Mary had picked out. Luckily, it was only a few essentials.

Mary’s daughter, Anastacia, was sick with the flu. She needed someone to watch the kids because her husband was in Europe on a business trip, so Mary decided to go to Santa Ana from San Diego, California. But her friend, John, had driven her up, and it seems she left her wallet in his car.

Once they got their groceries ready, Mary and the kid went outside. “Hey, I’m Mary Cummings. What’s your name?” she said conversationally.

“I’m Mark.”

“Thank you so much for what you did, Mark. It saved me a trip to the store. Listen, how about you give me your phone number so I can pay you back as soon as I get my wallet,” Mary suggested, and the kid wrote down his number on the receipt.

“Here, but don’t worry about it. There’s no rush. I live nearby anyway,” Mark said offhandedly.

“Although I also believe in paying it forward like you and your grandma, we have to pay off our debts,” Mary added, and they said goodbye.

For illustration purposes only. | Source: Pexels

For illustration purposes only. | Source: Pexels

She got home and told Anastacia about leaving her wallet in John’s car and the kid at the store who paid for her things. Mary only went there to buy a few things for chicken noodle soup, so it wasn’t anything important. “Still, it was nice to see a young man being so kind,” Mary finished her story while storing things and getting ready to make the soup.

“I agree. Although kids today are all so progressive, some of them can be pretty self-centered,” Anastacia.

“I don’t think this kid comes from a rich family, though. Maybe that’s why he’s so nice. But anyway, I’m worried that he might need that money urgently,” the older woman continued. Luckily, she called John, who agreed to come up to Santa Ana the following day and return her wallet.

***

Mary and Anastacia rang the bell at the address Mark had given them. Earlier, John came up, gave Mary her wallet, and Mary called the kid to return the money. He told her where he lived, and now they were right in front of his home.

The house was small and old. But it looked clean, and the garden was maintained. It was clear that these people didn’t have a lot of money, but they took pride in keeping it pretty. Mark answered the door.

“Hello, Mrs. Cummings,” Mark said upon opening the front door.

“Hey, Mark! This is my daughter, Anastacia. Here’s your money. Again, thank you so much for everything,” Mary told him with a kind smile.

For illustration purposes only. | Source: Pexels

For illustration purposes only. | Source: Pexels

“Thank you. You didn’t have to hurry,” the boy replied and looked behind him for a second. “Listen, I would invite you in, but I’m not supposed to have anyone over. My grandma would be mad.”

“Oh, where is she? Maybe, we can come later to meet her. Does she like pecan pie? Because we’re going to the bakery right now,” Anastacia added happily.

“Well, she’s actually at the hospital and won’t get out for a while,” Mark explained with a frown. Mary and Anastacia wanted to know more, so he continued. “She needs a huge surgery, and I started a GoFundMe, but I’ve been trying to promote it. It’s not that popular. For now, the hospital has understood, and they are keeping her in observation while I raise the money.”

“Oh, sweetie. You shouldn’t have to do that on your own,” Anastacia said, concerned.

“We don’t have anyone else. It’s only us,” Mark shrugged. Mary and Anastacia looked at each other and came to a wordless decision.

“Give me the link to the GoFundMe, and your grandmother’s name. Also, come with us to the bakery. We’ll go visit her and see if the doctor lets her eat some pie,” Mary offered, although it was more of a demand.

“Are you sure? You don’t have to.”

“We have to,” Anastacia insisted, and Mark went with them.

For illustration purposes only. | Source: Pexels

For illustration purposes only. | Source: Pexels

After buying some pies, they went to the hospital to meet Mark’s grandmother, Mrs. Julie Strada. They talked to her for a while, and Mark decided to stay with her that night, so Mary and Anastacia left.

When they got home, Anastacia shared the GoFundMe link with anyone she could think of, and she also donated a few hundred dollars. But Mary felt so hopeless. “They need so much money for this surgery. I don’t know if sharing the link is enough,” she breathed sadly.

“Let’s think,” Anastacia said, looking at her computer. “How about we share the story of the boy? I mean how he helped you, although they need the money so much. I mean, he couldn’t know you were going to pay it back. Maybe it could go viral? Let’s try Reddit.”

“That’s a one-in-a-million thing, Anastacia,” Mary replied skeptically.

“We’ll see,” the younger woman said with a smile and started writing everything that happened on Reddit. She posted it on several subreddits and her Twitter.

For illustration purposes only. | Source: Pexels

For illustration purposes only. | Source: Pexels

At first, there were only a few commenters, but thousands of people had read the story and donated to the cause after a few days. They still needed a lot more donations to reach the goal of $230,000, which was the cost of Mrs. Strada’s entire treatment.

But surprisingly, a famous new outlet picked up the story, shared it, and even interviewed Mary and Mark for their article. The GoFundMe project reached way beyond their goal, and they were ecstatic. Mark couldn’t believe it. He had only paid around $20 for what Mrs. Cummings needed at the store, and she somehow found a way to pay it back and more.

What can we learn from this story?

  • Helping others can change your life. Mark helped an older woman at the store, not knowing how hard she would work to pay him back for his gesture.
  • There are still good people around the world. Tons of viral stories have gotten people enough donations to pay for their family members and even their pets’ treatments, which proves how good people can be.

Share this story with your friends. It might brighten their day and inspire them.

If you enjoyed this story, you might like this one about a man who had to put his baby up for adoption when he was a teenager.

This account is inspired by our reader’s story and written by a professional writer. Any resemblance to actual names or locations is purely coincidental. All images are for illustration purposes only. Share your story with us; maybe it will change someone’s life.

Poor Man Wakes up One Morning and Finds His Late Father’s Old Trailer in His Backyard

One morning, a poor man is stunned to wake up and find his father’s old trailer in his yard with a note from his older brother — but the despised inheritance ends up making his fortune.

When Mark Kendrick’d first married, it looked as if life would run smoothly. He and his wife Sally had a good job. But then back in 2008, his wife lost her job as a chef when the restaurant she worked in closed down.

Left with a huge mortgage, two children, and one salary, the Kendricks had struggled. In 2019 when Mark’s father pa::ssed away, his estate — which was substantial — had all gone to his brother, Jim. It seemed that Mark just couldn’t catch a break.

Mark never told anyone, even Sally, but the conditions of his father’s will had hurt him deeply. Mark was the younger brother by nearly 20 years and the child of his father’s second marriage.

He understood that the company and the big house his father had lived in had once belonged to Jim’s deceased mother and were his by right — but Mark had thought his dad would leave him some token of his esteem.

When Mark was still a child, his father had often played hide-and-seek games with him. The little boy would often find a little treat under his pillow with a note — chocolate or a piece of candy — and the note always said: ‘Daddy loves you, Mark.’

They’d go off on vacation — Mark, his mom, and his dad — on their old trailer. His half-brother, Jim, would never go. He’d always turn up his nose at their ‘trashy trailer’ and go off with his fancy college friends.

The trio would drive around the back roads of America stopping whenever they fancied a town’s name, and the first meal they made was always his dad’s spicy clam chowder.

For Mark, those vacations were his fondest memories of his childhood, and they had ended when his mother pass::ed away, a victim of can::cer when Mark was fifteen. After that, the trailer just sat in the backyard.

Our family’s memories and the good times we spent together are the most precious things we have.

Mark’s dad had withered away to a shadow of his former self and became almost a recluse. In his last years, he refused to see anyone at all, even his sons and grandchildren.

Then, two years after his dad’s pa:ssing, Mark woke up to find the old trailer parked in his driveway! He immediately phoned his brother. “Jim, what’s going on?” he asked. “You left the trailer here?”

His brother was abrupt. “The old man wanted you to have that piece of junk,” he said. “And it’s taking up space I need. So you take it and throw away your own trash!”

“Jim,” Mark asked quietly. “Why can’t we be friends?”

“You ask me why?” asked Jim bitterly. “He loved you more than he ever loved me, he spent more time with you on that stupid trailer than he ever did with me. Tha’s why!”

For illustrative purpose only. Source: Unsplash

Sad Mark hung up the phone, then he went outside and climbed into the old trailer. It was sadly neglected and would need a lot of work before it could be used again.

Mark sat on his old bed and tested the mattress. He’d have to get a new one. Then, out of old habit, he stuck his hand under the pillow. To his surprise, he felt something there!

There was an envelope under the pillow with his name on it! He opened it and found a bank book for an account with a balance of over $60,000! In the envelope was a recipe for his dad’s chowder, and a note.

The note read: “My dear Mark, this recipe and the memories of the good times we shared are all I have to leave you. I hope this money will come in handy. It’s not much, but it may help to smooth your way. Remember me. Daddy loves you, Mark.”

Mark had tears in his eyes. He took the bank book and showed it to Sally. “That’s not bad…” she said. “It’s not the millions that Jim got, but it will help. You can sell that old trailer too. That should bring in a little more money.”

Mark was in shoc::k. “I’m not selling my dad’s trailer!” he cried. “That’s out of the question!”

“Well I don’t want that piece of junk just sitting in the front yard!” cried Sally crossly.

Mark sat on the front porch looking at that trailer for hours. It certainly needed a lot of work… Then he pulled his dad’s recipe out of his pocket and stared at it. “Sally!” he cried. “Come here! I have an idea!”

“What is it, Mark?” she asked.

“You know how you always said you wanted your own restaurant?” he asked excitedly and pointed at the old trailer. “There it is!”

“Are you mad?” gasped Sally.

“No!” Mark said. “Listen, we transform that old trailer into a mobile restaurant/ food truck. We make that amazing clam chowder of my dad’s… We’ll paint it bright, happy colors and string up lights…”

“That could work,” said Sally thoughtfully. “If we can afford the licenses…”

They could and they did. Pretty soon, people were coming from all over the city to eat Pop’s Chowder, making Mark give up his job to help Sally. They started a franchise, and before long, there were Pop’s Chowder food trucks all over the state.

Mark was very happy. His father’s memory was honored every day, with every bite a satisfied customer took of that amazing clam chowder. And thanks to that legacy, he was taking good care of his family.

Mark called Jim and invited him and his family to join them for a family lunch at the old refurbished trailer. Jim came and ate the chowder and the two brothers made peace, just as their father would have wanted.

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