Aussie mum's heartwarming find in public bathroom: 'Made me cry'
An Aussie mum's trip to her local shopping centre left her feeling emotional after making a surprising discovery in the public bathroom.
Sam Fitzpatrick, 21, was at Westfield West Lakes in Adelaide recently and needed to feed her 10-week-old daughter, so she went into the parents' feeding room with her partner Ben.
The new mum said it was "really nice in there" so she started to look around. In the feeding room next to hers she spotted a little table and what she thought was "a shopping list folded in on itself".
"There was this lovely note and $5 note. I felt incredibly lucky to come across something so kind, how a simple gesture can completely turn someone's day around," she told Yahoo News Australia. "I called out to Ben to have a look and took a photo [so I could] share [it] on mother's groups I'm in. [I wanted] to show that we're all on this journey together and to show that there's nothing like the kindness of strangers."
A photo shared with Yahoo News Australia shows the sweet, handwritten note that was wrapped up with the money. "It's not lost, it is meant for you. Enjoy a coffee or a cold drink, because Mumma, you deserve it," it says.
Ms Fitzpatrick said she "almost cried" when she saw the note" saying motherhood "isn't the easiest thing in the world". But it's simple gestures such as this one that "makes you realise you are never alone," she said.
She told Yahoo News of a time when she worked at a fast-food restaurant. "There was a chain of like 10 people who paid for the person's order behind them," she recalled. "Once people see an act of kindness it makes them want to participate in paying it forward and it's lovely."
People react to 'beautiful' gesture
The note was shared on ABC Adelaide's social media pages where it garnered dozens of sweet reactions.
"What a beautiful, kind gesture," one person commented. "Love this," another simply wrote.
Some shared their own experiences having received a similar gesture. "I have experienced random acts of kindness and I have done them. I get the most joy from being kind to someone else," one said.
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