Hurricane Harvey was one of the most catastrophic natural disasters in American history, costing over a hundred billion dollars in damages and killing dozens. After the storm swept through much of the gulf coast, with the brunt hitting the Texas coastline, many homes were utterly destroyed in the flooding. The tragedy was immense, but people shine in the most trying times.
This story sticks out in that it went viral, inspiring hundreds of thousands. In the darkest hours of the disaster, this incident reaffirms the good in humanity and shows the positive influence one person can have in lifting others out of despair.
A Texas waitress has garnered national attention after her random act of kindness.
According to the Facebook post, Carlos Sepeda Jr. and his wife Tammy evacuated to Fairfield to get away from the storm, where the Sepeda family went out to eat at a restaurant called Sam’s.
Mary, their waitress learned of the Sepedas’ situation and as they were leaving handed Sepeda’s wife a folded piece of paper.
“We did not look at it till we got to the parking lot. We opened the note to see a 100 dollar bill we walked back in to tell her we could not take her money,” the post said. “Her reply was she had gone to the back and prayed on it and she refused to take the money back.”
The waitress also included a note that read, “this isn’t much compared to your loss. Buy yourself something special. God bless — my prayers are with you.”
She also offered to give them chairs and a table if they needed them.
Sepeda shared this post in hopes of showing just how strong Texas unity is saying “this is what Texas pride is made of.”
They tried to give the money back to her, but Mary adamantly refused, then offered them a table and chairs to help them refurnish their home.
Blown away by the kind gesture, Carlos took to Facebook to post about his story. It quickly racked up tens of thousands of shares and about a hundred thousand likes.
During times of crisis, people witness the best and worst of humanity. It seems that every year during hurricane season, there is at least one major one that does some serious damage.
All throughout the process of rebuilding, though, Mary’s incredible act of kindness inspired them and gave them strength. They didn’t give up, and in the end there was a home for them to live in once again.
As news of this incredible act went viral, even the media began reporting on what happened, exposing more and more people to this incredible story.
Sources: OpposingViews, Click2Houston
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