If there’s one thing we love, it’s when one good deed inspires more to follow. Warm, fuzzy feelings have been hard to come by over the past few years, so stories like these ones are so important. They serve as reminders that there are still good people out there in the world. Also, it’s nice to believe in the good of humankind. We need more heartwarming stories like this in our life.
Exhausted at the Hotel
Back in 2017, Jo Amt went through a pretty massive “house situation,” as she described it. Her home had flooded, and the family lost nearly everything they had. After driving an hour to the hotel where she and her family had to stay, they were all beyond exhausted.
A couple of nights ago, I was so tired from everything we’ve been through with our toilet breaking and our house flooding. We were getting back to the hotel we are living in fairly late after the hour-long round trip drive to boy scouts and basketball practice.
Randi Jo Amt – Facebook
The family had to stay there for a little bit until their house could be lived in once again. Jo had her kids with her during this time as well. The first few nights, it was pretty difficult to get them to relax and go to sleep. In fact, a group of loud teens had actually woken her kids up the night before, and Jo wasn’t too pleased about it.
So, when she heard the teens making loud noises and banging again the following night, she decided to go talk to them.
Jo Speaks to the Teens
Now, many of us would be at our wit’s end by this point. Jo might have wanted to scream and shout at the teens, and tell them to just shut up already, but that’s not what she did. Instead, Jo walked to the room the teens were staying in and knocked on their door.
We put the kids to bed as quickly as possible and teenagers were loud in the hallway for awhile. I was frustrated, but wanted to wait to talk to them when I could tell them about our situation to see if they could show compassion rather than become angry at the lady next door.
Randi Jo Amt – Facebook
Jo reached out to the noisy teens and explained what she and her family were going through. She told them that they had woken her kids up the previous night, and wanted them to understand how tiring this all was.
“I said I know you’re in town for the FFA convention and we want you to have fun while you’re here, but you were a little loud last night and you woke up my kids. I was just hoping you could be a little quieter tonight,” said Jo.
WTHR
She expected them to either act as most teens do, which isn’t that great or to roll their eyes but quietly agree to keep it down. Instead, what happened next shocked Jo.
Teens React with Letter
The teens had no idea what Jo was going through and were shocked to hear they had been causing added stress to her life.
“We wanted to stretch our legs, kind of run around a little bit,” said sophomore Ethan Westerman. “We were just running around, banging doors, watching the world series, yelling at the TV about the world series, just being normal teenagers.”
“I was in shock because I never even thought somebody was living right next door that was having that sort of trouble,” one of the teens said.
“I felt this regret in what we had done. We didn’t have any idea what the situation that they were in,” said another.
WTHR
Anete Lusina -Pexels
So, after the teens talked about it, they came up with a plan. They agreed to write an apology letter to Jo and throw in some cash as well. Money always helps, right?
The Letter
The next morning, Jo noticed a letter under her door. She opened it up and $40 came tumbling out. When she read the words, her heart was filled with hope and she had a smile on her face.
We are more than sorry for waking you and your family up the past few nights. We hope everything goes well with your house.
Randi Jo Amt – Facebook
Jo was flabbergasted. She shared the heartwarming story to her Facebook page, where it has since gone viral.
Before I went to bed, I noticed a note that someone had slipped under our door. I opened the note to find money. In a world where some people sit behind screens and become angry on social media, this young man restored my faith that the next generation can make eye contact and show compassion to the person right in front of him.
Randi Jo Amt – Facebook
This time of year, it’s important to remember that there are good people in the world. When someone shows a little kindness to you, return the favor and show some to someone else. Jo ended up donating that $40 to a local homeless shelter in her state of Indiana. Hoping she could maybe help someone else to have a little less of a bad day too.
Keep Reading: She Was Tired of Her Giving Her Kids Candy So She Wrote Her Mother-in-Law a Letter
Sources
- Facebook. Randi Jo Amt
- “Meet the FFA members who went viral for donating to Indianapolis family.” WTHR. KSN. November 7, 2017