“Very generous of him to do that especially when we were sitting there with our five kids,” Brian Mockridge, father said.
Mockridge and his family will never forget his 13 year old’s birthday dinner at One Fifteen Broiler in Grants Pass.
“The gentleman behind us was sitting there and my little one was kind of looking at him saying ‘hi, hi, saying hi.’ And we said hello to him a couple times I think, but for the most part we tried to let him enjoy him dinner,” Mockridge said.
But while the Mockridge’s wanted to let the gentleman eat, he wanted to do something special.
“This gentleman came up behind me and handed me his credit card and said since it’s Christmas and they’re such a well-mannered family, I want to buy them a Christmas dinner and don’t tell them it who it’s from,” Frank Arturi, One Fifteen Broiler waiter said.
According to the Arturi, the man’s dinner was around thirty dollars, whereas the family’s was six times higher.
“The families dinner was closer to $200 like $196,” Arturi said.
The birthday surprise didn’t go unnoticed.
“When we got in the car and started talking on the way home they were very shocked and we made sure to let them know the significance of it,” Mockridge said. “We tried to make it very clear to them that this is why you always go out of the way to help people in need.”
Now the family wants to do the same and pay it forward.
“I would like to tell him that it would not be forgotten and it will be with us and our opportunity will come to us to pass that on to the next person,” he said.
The Mockridge’s say they’re not sure when they will pass it forward but they’ll know when the time comes.
© 2024 KOBI-TV NBC5. All rights reserved unless otherwise stated.