Taunton Parents Receive Gracious Gift From Total Strangers

Parenting is hard. Even though I don’t have children of my own yet, I can sympathize with mothers and the effort it takes to be a good parent. One generous act of kindness had one Taunton mother emotional after a Sunday morning breakfast when complete strangers gave her a touching note with a little surprise inside.

Beth Mitton DaRosa and her husband take their two daughters out to breakfast every Sunday. Every week, they take a drive to DeAvila’s on Weir Street and enjoy brunch as a family. They were having a pretty typical morning when a couple sitting next to them struck up a conversation.

“We made small talk for a little while, and I didn’t think anything of it,” Beth said.

The couple finished their meal and left about 20 minutes later without saying goodbye. That’s when Beth’s waitress came over with a message.

“The couple that just left wanted me to give this to you,” the server told them.

It was a note that read, “You are a great set of parents! You are raising strong women. Bless you.” The note was folded around $40.

“I cried,” Beth recalled. “As a parent, you just never know if you’re doing the right thing, you never know if you’re a good parent. I didn’t care about the money, getting that pat on the back meant everything to me and my husband.”

Like all families, Beth and her husband have their own trials and tribulations. She shared with me how they adopted their four-year-old when she was just one and recently had a child of their own.

“(Parenthood) doesn’t come with a handbook,” Beth laughed. The kind gesture brought her to tears, saying, “It’s mostly negativity everywhere. Just to have a random act of kindness happen like that is just so appreciated.”

She recently posted her experience to Facebook in hopes that the couple would read about her gratitude. She never even caught their name.

I’m not a parent yet, but I know how hard my mother worked to give me a great life. Not many people take the time to reflect on what’s going on behind the public façade of parenthood, but the two strangers at Diavala’s on Sunday took the time to look a little deeper and go out of their way to show appreciation to a man and woman who were simply raising their children the best they knew how.

Being a mom or dad is hard. Getting a friendly pat on the back was a refreshing act of kindness for this Taunton family.