My son James and I took my mom-who-raised me to lunch. We do this about once a month. She is in a very nice assisted living complex. She is there all the time, except when we come and take her to lunch.

She made me smile on the way back, because she said, “You don’t have to take me out every time you visit.” I reminded her how much she seems to enjoy getting out of the place for a bit, and she agreed.

We brought her back to her place, stayed a little while, then left. I wanted to put on shorts before we went to the barn. James was having a riding lesson, and I was doing barn work. He fussed leaving my mom’s, and again leaving for the barn. He dislikes transitions.

On the way home, we stopped for McDonald’s drive through. I had to get my phone away from James to open my McDonald’s app. The app gave us a free Happy Meal. We ordered, and I moved up to the cashier window. That is when I discovered I had left my purse at home. Okay, no problem, I have a card saved on the app. Oops. The app updated. No card on file. I was about to tell the cashier I would go in the restaurant to settle the bill, when to my surprise, he pulled out his phone and paid for our order. I was shocked, and very grateful. From McDonald’s, we rushed home, ate, James got bathed, I packed his overnight bag, and his dad picked him up. There is never enough time.

James dragged his feet getting in the bath, and was still dressing when his father arrived. Transitions suck.

After they left, I went to the McDonald’s website to compliment them and thank the employee who paid for our dinner. I promised to pay for someone else’s dinner the next time we go.

There are good people in the world. Sometimes they appear when you really need help. So thankful.