Elderly Woman Eats with Complete Stranger at McDonald's, Photo of Sweet Moment Goes Viral
Another random act of kindness has sparked the attention of folks across the country. But this story has a twist — both people involved are the givers and the receivers.
Usually, we read stories in which one person steps out to show kindness and love to another. A young man brings shoes to the homeless or a child serves meals to those in need.
In the case of a meal at a McDonald’s in Noblesville, Indiana, it seems that two acts of kindness occurred in a way you might not expect.
According to a Facebook post shared by teacher Amanda Craft, an elderly woman was looking for someone to share a meal with.
Craft and her friends looked on as the woman approached a gentleman eating alone and asked if she could sit with him. He kindly said, “of course.”
“They talked and laughed together like they were friends,” the teacher on her lunch break wrote. “They didn’t know each other, and they couldn’t be more different. But today they shared a meal together and it touched our hearts.”
In the photo, the man, Eric Haralson, can be seen smiling. The elderly woman, who has been identified as Jan, seemingly wanted to keep him company.
But Haralson’s invitation for her to sit is just as thoughtful. He told “Good Morning America” he’d first witnessed a group of teens blow her off when she tried to engage in conversation with them.
“One of the kids had a man bun and she was very intrigued by it and asked what made him come up with that hairstyle,” Haralson said. “They didn’t take to her that much.”
But that’s quite all right because if the teens had taken to Jan she may not have found a new friend in Haralson, who says they sat and talked and ate together for 45 minutes.
“She goes to church every Sunday, we talked a lot about that,” he said. “She did not have any kids or a significant other that she made mention of.”
“I could tell she’s a firecracker,” he continued. “She will tell you exactly how she feels and has no problem being outgoing.”
I love this woman already. She definitely sounds like the kind of person I’d want to share a meal with, and Haralson does, too.
The two exchanged numbers and the 28-year-old father has already reached out to Jan, hoping to invite her to breakfast again soon.
“I don’t know if she has anyone else in her life and I want to reach out to her as much as I can,” he told “GMA.”
This sweet moment has gone viral, which just goes to show people hunger for more acts of kindness like this one.
Be a Jan or an Eric today. Stop and say “hi,” share a meal and a smile. You never know how far your simple gesture will reach.
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