Keeping a toddler quiet on a packed train is no easy task – especially since such struggles can be met with disapproving tuts from impatient fellow passengers.
So single mother Samantha Welch was moved to tears when a generous stranger – impressed by her parenting of her three-year-old son Rylan – gave her £5 with a letter praising her as a ‘credit to her generation’.
The mystery passenger had written his message on a scrap of paper folded around the cash, which he handed to her as he got off the train.
Miss Welch, 23, had kept Rylan occupied by playing games and listening to music. He later fell asleep and when the train became busier she moved him on to her lap to free up a seat.
She said yesterday that she was ‘overwhelmed’ by the man’s gesture and has launched an appeal on Facebook to track him down so she can thank him in person.
Miss Welch and Rylan were on a gruelling five and a half hour journey, which included changing trains – enough to test even the most placid child’s patience. She said: ‘He was good and there was no crying. It was quite exhausting for him but then he fell asleep with his head on my knee. The train was quite busy. A couple of people got on and were standing up and I offered to put him on my knee so they could have a seat.’
When the mom and son duo got on the train from Birmingham to Plymouth, they were exhausted. Initially, Welch kept Rylan busy by playing games and listening to music.
But when he finally fell asleep and the train became busier, she put him on her lap to vacate a seat. Welch explained that constantly changing trains on their way had been grueling, especially for her son, but he behaved nicely and didn’t cry.
Even though Welch made it look easy, handling a toddler during long journeys can be daunting, especially with all the fellow passengers around. That was one reason why she and Rylan caught a stranger’s attention on the train.
The mystery passenger politely tapped on Welch’s shoulder, gave her a folded note and some cash, and said, “I think you dropped this out of your bag.” Before the single mom could react, the stranger disappeared.
Welch explained she hadn’t noticed the stranger until he slipped her the note and got off the train at Bristol. When she opened the crinkled piece of paper, it contained £5 ($6.74) and a handwritten message.
Sammie, 23, who had been cuddling her sleeping three-year-old son Rylan, is now trying to track down the man to thank him.
The handwritten note Sammie received from a stranger on the train
“Money is quite short for people nowadays so for someone to give me that was amazing.
“I really want to thank him personally.”
The scribbled note read: “Have a drink on me, you’re a credit to your generation, polite and teaching the little boy good manners.
The mother-of-one was touched by the gesture and launched a social media campaign to find her anonymous benefactor. She read the note kind note several times and couldn’t stop crying. The supportive message also read:
Welch later appeared on “Good Morning Britain” with her son and mentioned that she was shocked by the random act of kindness and grateful that someone appreciated her role as a single mother.
Welch, Rylan, and Saunders had an emotional reunion on “Good Morning Britain” in late January 2015. The young mother thanked her generous benefactor for his random act of kindness.
Ken Saunders holds Rylan on his reunion with the kid and his mom, Sammie, on Good Morning Britain.
If this heartwarming story brightened your day, don’t forget to share it with your family and friends. Here’s another similar story that you might like, and it’s about a single father who took his daughter on a date on Valentine’s Day in 2015.
Surprisingly, the daddy-daughter duo caught the attention of several diners, one of whom left a mystery note for them. You can read the full story here.
Source:ustimetoday.com, dailymail.co.uk, express.co.uk
