These days, finding people who have good manners is not exactly as easy as you might think. It is a rarity to have someone hold the door open for you, or wait for you to exit the elevator before pushing their way on board. A young woman from Texas is still going viral for holding the door open for an elderly woman approaching the same restaurant. When she heard the woman’s remark, she decided more people should hear of this story.
Southern Hospitality
30-year-old Brooke Ochoa from Louise, Texas, made some waves on social media for her impeccable manners back in 2015. She made sure people heard the story we were about to share because it was astounding to her how few people have manners in this day and age. One afternoon, Brooke was on her way to a certain restaurant. As she walked in through the door, she noticed an elderly woman making her way slowly to the same doorway. Now, many people might just realize this and do nothing. They might awkwardly deliberate for a second and realize how slow the woman was walking due to her age, give up, and let the door close behind them as they made their way to their table.
However, Brooke was not one of those people. She was raised with a typical Southern-hospitality mentality. So, she waited there in the doorway for the elderly woman to reach her so she could hold the door open for her. According to Brooke, the lady was very grateful. But this was not the end of Brooke’s kindness.
More Acts of Kindness
Brooke was at the restaurant by herself, and she had no intention of meeting anyone there to eat with. She sat down and waited for a waiter. Then, she couldn’t help but overhear the elderly woman ask the hostess for a table for one, and it dawned on her that she was also planning to dine alone. At first, Brooke said she was hesitant to approach the woman, but she eventually went over and asked her if she wanted some company while she ate. “I’m eating by myself too would you like to have lunch together?” Brooke recalled in an interview with TODAY.
The woman’s face lit up, and according to Brooke’s story she was “ecstatic!” After Brooke sat down, she learned the woman’s name was Dolores. They started chatting and Dolores opened up about the loneliness she had been dealing with due to her mother passing away. “She spent the last decade living with her mom, who recently passed away, and her aunt, who recently was put into a nursing home,” Brooke remembered. “She has been having a hard time being alone.”
So Much Gratitude
On both sides, there was gratitude felt. Dolores couldn’t help but thank Brooke again and again for listening to her while she spoke about her sorrows. For Brooke, Dolores’s words were just as healing. “She just kept smiling and saying thank you for listening to me, which made me smile too!” Brooke said candidly. “Her words healed my heart just as much as I healed her lonely one,”
Dolores and Brooke made an arrangement to meet for lunch at the same restaurant every Thursday from that day onward. In a later post, Brooke told those following this story of kindness that Dolores had passed away. However, in her heart of hearts, Brooke knew she had helped an elderly woman overcome the agonizing pain that comes with loneliness. It was a silver lining in her story.
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