A family surprised by a stranger’s kindness at a Heber grocery store are now inviting others to pass along good will during this season.
Wasatch Back resident Kelly Marshall was shopping at the Heber Smith’s grocery store with her family on Monday December 23rd when an older man approached and handed her an envelope.
“I had originally thought that maybe he thought I dropped it and was giving it to me. I said, ‘Oh no that's not mine.’ He said, ‘no this is for you.’ Then I was kind of like, Oh maybe it's like an invitation to a Christmas service . There was a long line behind me, and the store was really busy and crowded so I don't even know if I said thank you or not. I just kind of looked bewildered I think and said Oh OK thanks and I hand it to my daughter who was sitting in the cart and just kept checking out. Then we got up to the car she opened it and to our surprise it had a beautiful Christmas message in it, and it had a $50 bill in it. So, we were just really taken aback, and you know felt, my eyes filled up with tears and I just thought what a wonderful thing for someone to do.”
Marshall says her first instinct was to track down the man and return the money.
“I immediately felt like Oh my goodness, we have a very good life and we don't need this. He should give this to someone who needs it more than we do and just realized that maybe the lesson was more that we all need kindness and joy and to pay it forward. Maybe it was meant to come to me, and I pay it to the next person, and the next person, and the next person and it will eventually end up with the person who really needs it.”
Marshall says if she were to see the man again, she would express her thanks.
“I don't know if it makes me emotional. But I think just thank you for the reminder that it's not--it's not about the material things, or Christmas, and Santa coming but it's about something bigger. It's about community and taking care of our neighbors and I would say thank you to him for reminding me of that as I was standing in the grocery line with my child melting down and trying to get out of there as fast as we could. It was a nice reminder. So, I would just say a big thank you.”
