Over the weekend, Kevin Cate, a former Barack Obama campaign spokesperson, visited a Waffle House in Midway, Florida and noticed an elderly man sitting alone in a booth with a pile of cash.
Cate spoke with the Florida man and documented the interaction on Twitter. He learned that the man has been handing out $1 and $5 bills to strangers all over and has given away more than $13,000 since 2014.
"Saw this man sitting by himself at a Waffle House in Midway, Florida. So I said hello and asked him what he was doing with that money," Cate tweeted on July 9 at 6:30 p.m.
"He told me that since 2014, he’s been handing out $1s and $5s to strangers, here and elsewhere. So of course, I ask him about it," Cate added.
Here comes the crazy part.
"He said he’s given away more than $13,000 to strangers, kids, and people he meets at Waffle House (his favorite) and elsewhere," Cate tweeted. "And they all come with that note you see in the picture. He copies and cut these out every few days. Obviously, I ask about the note."
Cate continued his Twitter thread of the wholesome interaction, and learned why the man wrote the small notes which read "Love every body."
"It says 'love every body.' Why? He told me those were the last three words his mother said to him. And he says it to me again. She didn’t say 'I love you.' She said 'love every body.' So that’s what I’m doing. Loving every body," Cate tweeted.
The initial tweet with the picture of the elderly man currently has nearly 65,000 likes, 12,500 retweets, and 1,000 replies. Many people tweeted back similar stories about strangers doing good deeds that have made their days or lives better.
Cate told TODAY that he didn't tweet out all of the specific details from the man's story, including that the man's mother was battling cancer and she told him her final words before going into a coma.
"One of the striking parts of the story for me was just that a story is essentially like a promise: 'I'm gonna tell you something, and you're gonna take something away from it,'" Cate told TODAY, adding, "And I took a step back when he said, 'She didn’t say I love you. She said to love everybody.'"
A Waffle House spokesperson provided a statement to TODAY, and noted that they have not learned the name of the elderly man who's been giving away thousands of dollars for eight years.
"It is a heart-warming story that couldn’t come at a better time than this, given all the turmoil in the world today," the Waffle House spokesperson said. "This Customer’s actions reflect the best of humankind — the desire to help others and let them know you care. In a world where it may seem easy to forget that goodness thrives and lives in the hearts of many, we support and encourage this Customer’s acts of kindness towards others. Sometimes all the world needs is a priceless reminder such as this one."
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