The most amazing thing happened this evening:
I was working late and finally close to leaving at 5:45, when Lizzie texted that a friend had invited her to go to Carowinds this evening. That left the evening free for Fara & me to go out for dinner, and we chose Mickey & Mooch at the Arboretum, which is one of our favorites. We also know the chef, who’s a great guy.
When we arrived, it was surprisingly packed full for a Thursday – until we realized that it was Charlotte Restaurant Week. No wonder! We almost despaired, but a really nice lady at the bar motioned to us, that she could slide down 1 to the last seat, leaving 2 corner seats for us, as she was by herself. We thanked her profusely, of course.
The bartender was insanely busy, which we understood, so we had time to strike up a conversation with our benefactress, and it turned into the most delightful conversation that stretched all the way through dinner, probably close to 2 hours. We shared stories about our kids and her kids/grandkids, music, food, cracked on each other because I’m a Carolina Tar Heel with a Wolfpack daughter, while her oldest son went to Duke (her oldest son is Chris Duhon, who played point guard for Duke 2000-2004), and her younger son’s (Morehouse grad) new wife also went to NCSU, talked about jazz and how the jazz pianist tonight managed to sing with feeling and swing, but somehow sat as motionless as a rock, showed her pictures of Fara’s cakes and each other’s dogs. She even had Fara text her a photo of a hilarious joke that she saw. All in all, you couldn’t ask for more enjoyable dinner conversation.
Since she finished before us, she gathered her things, swung down from the chair, and as she walked behind us, she said quietly, “I took care of your check. Don’t worry about it,” and then she walked out the door with a smile.
Fara and I were so stunned, it took us a moment to even grasp what she’d said. By then, she was already gone. BUT!!! We had her phone number from when Fara texted her the joke, and the waitress hadn’t taken her signed CC slip yet, so I found her name. We messaged our thanks to her and we all expressed hope that we’ll stay in touch. I even said that Fara could make a Duke-themed cake for her, as long as I didn’t see it in our house. I think she understands how big a gift that really is!!! 😎😁🤣
What a wonderful evening!
And I already have an idea of how we’re going to pay it forward, too. 😉