Young couple leaves waitress in tears with generous $1,000 tip, just in time for holidays

The holiday season is a time for spreading joy and sharing kindness. Some people take their kindness to another level and are happy to share their good fortune with others.

This waitress got lucky when her patrons turned out to be angels… read this story to get into the holiday spirit.

It was on an ordinary night at the South Fork Grille in Coconut Point. Waitress Tracey Gerlach was working her shift and spreading smiles on all her tables. The waitress has worked at the establishment for almost a year and is known for her infectious good humor.

“I love… I love meeting new people, I love chatting with people, I love talking to people. I’m Italian like I said, so I enjoy feeding people. It just gives me some kind of fulfillment inside when they leave, and they’re happy, and their bellies are full,” Gerlach said.

She was doing her job just as she does usually; with a lot of cheer and smiles.

“It was about 7:30, maybe 8 o’clock, so it was like my last table of the evening. It was a couple, a younger couple, and their two younger kids, maybe four or five. Completely normal, you know, nothing out of the ordinary,” Gerlach said.

But in a little while she would know it was anything but ordinary. “They left, I said, ‘Merry Christmas, have a wonderful evening.’ They went to leave, I walked in the back,” Gerlach said.

She began to go through the motions of checking for her tip when she came across a huge surprise; a $1,000 tip!

“Like I said, it was my last table, so I opened the check to put my tip in, and I saw it said a thousand dollars… and I, I had no.. it was unbelievable; like my heart dropped. And I kicked open the kitchen door, and I went running out, and they were just about to walk out the front door… and I inappropriately hugged this woman’s husband for a good 30 seconds,” Gerlach said.

She was in pure disbelief. At first, she thought it might have been a mistake. She recalls, “The tears were just, I mean, streaming streaming streaming. I just looked at him, and I said, ” are you serious? are you for real?” and he goes, “100%.” he says, “I want you to have a Merry Christmas, and I think you’re a wonderful person.”

Her manager Pharaoh Wheeler said everyone was happy for her. “I was happy for her. I think everybody on the staff would be happy for somebody. You know, obviously, everybody wishes it was them probably but whenever something good happens to somebody here, we’re all happy for that person,” the manager said.

“And I hope they have a wonderful Christmas, a really wonderful Christmas, and enjoy those children they have; they’re little cutie pies,” Gerlach gushed.

She is still incredibly happy at this generous tip and said she plans on paying it forward to anyone else who might need some help!