“Just a guy…”
Therra Gwyn-Jaramillo has recently fallen onto hard times. She revealed on Facebook that she had recently stumbled upon hard times and stopped using Facebook before she had a meltdown and embarrassed herself. Since her husband died of brain cancer in 2014, Therra was left to take care of her disabled brother, several rescue animals, and $4,000 in home repairs.
A friend knew of her situation and sent her a $250 Whole Foods gift card, which she took full advantage of until she realized she had gone over budget at the checkout register. That’s when a “nice-looking man” stepped in to foot the entire bill.
Read a summary of the story in Therra’s own words,
“I went to Whole Foods across town with a dream of hummus and fresh food. Real dog food for the pups. Maybe a pizza with roasted exotic toppings. While in line, I was so tired and the food for my pets kind of ended up in with the stuff of the guy ahead of me on the conveyor belt.
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‘Whoa,’ I said to the very pretty cashier, ‘Oh no, sorry, that’s mine. So sorry.’
The guy in front of me said, ‘I might as well get it.’
He wanted to buy food for my pets. I even clumsily tried to stop the cashier at a certain amount, because the gift card was for $250 and I had gone way over, which at Whole Foods is far too easy to do. I was out of a lot of things at home and I hadn’t added things in my head correctly. All of this, he told me. All of my groceries.
I asked his name. ‘Chris,’ he said. We shook hands. Then I hugged him, shedding tears on the tattoo on his shoulder. I thanked him but I was so stunned that even as we made small talk (he asked me about my four dogs) I tripped over my words, all the while thinking, ‘I’m talking to an angel. Should I tell him? Should I tell him he’s an angel?’
‘Who are you?’ I asked at one point, in true wonder.
‘Just a guy,’ he said.
After he paid for all of my stuff ($375 total) he said, ‘They’ll make sure you get all this out to your car, okay? Do you need any help?’
‘No,’ I said, tears still streaming down my face, ‘But I do need to thank you again.’
‘You’re sweet,’ he said softly, looking at me with real kindness in his eyes, ‘You’re nice to rescue dogs.’
‘I’m lucky,’ I said, ‘You, my friend, are sweet. You’re special. I want to be like you.’ We hugged again. He left.
What Ludacris had no way of knowing is that I can’t really afford to shop at Whole Foods. Not much, anyway. I was there because Miracle Mary gave me a gift card and knew I’d been shouldering a very rough time as of late.
Thank you, Chris. God bless you.”
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