“I had a full-on ugly cry walking out of our local Cracker Barrel in Pooler, GA tonight.
Earlier I’d shared how hit-or-miss dinners out can be when you have a child with autism. Tonight was a miss.
We had made it through a long day — school awards, karate, even a trip to Walmart — and by the time we sat down at Cracker Barrel, my sweet boy Ian had reached his breaking point… all because of a Nemo/Dory toy that wasn’t actually Nemo or Dory.
He’s not a “bad” kid. He’s not spoiled. He was simply done.
My husband took him home to decompress, while I stayed behind to order food to-go.
Our waitress, Kailyn, had stopped by our table 5 or 6 times already. When I told her my husband and son had left, I mentioned through tears that Ian is autistic and just needed less noise, fewer lights, fewer people.
I wasn’t embarrassed about him being autistic — I was just sad. Sad that strangers might think he was being a brat, when really he’s a good kid having a hard moment.
Kailyn was so kind. She simply smiled and said, “Not a problem. I’ll get your order in quickly.”
About 15 minutes later, she came out with my bag of food… and said softly,
“Your dinner’s been taken care of. No payment needed.”
I burst into tears. Right there. Again.
As I walked out trying to hide my sobbing face, I noticed a paper stapled to my bag.
I thought it was a receipt.
It wasn’t.
It was something so much better.
It said:
“Your child is amazing, mommy. Be strong, keep your head up. You are doing a great job. Have a great night. — Your server, Kailyn”
That little note is now hanging on my fridge.
For every time I need to remember that kindness from strangers still exists.
Thank you, Kailyn. You’ll never know how much that meant to me.” 🩷
Jamie Mathews Heustess