Woman Buys a Burger for Poor Hungry Boy, His Whole Family Comes to Her House the Next Day – Story of the Day

A wealthy woman came across a young boy peeking through the window of a famous burger joint, looking famished. She decided to treat him to a burger, only to meet him again the following day, this time in front of her house with the rest of his family.

Sandra Williams was walking down a busy street in downtown LA after taking herself on a shopping spree. As she sipped on her iced cafe latte, she came across a young boy standing near a burger joint, peeking through the window.

As she got closer to the boy, Sandra realized that he was clutching his stomach and looking at the food with great desire. "Do you want one?" she asked, standing beside him in front of the store window.

Surprised that someone had spoken to him, the boy looked at Sandra and nodded his head. "Their food looks really good, but I don't have any money for it," he replied quietly.

"That's alright, today's your lucky day, then!" Sandra smiled. "I'm quite hungry myself. Come join me for a meal," she said, pulling one of the burger joint's outdoor chairs and placing her shopping bags on it.

"Really?" the boy asked. When Sandra nodded her head, the boy, who introduced himself as Elliot, excitedly sat down and looked around in amazement. He had never eaten in a restaurant before, so the entire experience was new to him.

Once they were settled, Sandra told Elliot to order anything he wanted from the menu. After browsing it for a couple of minutes, he ordered a double bacon cheeseburger, French fries, and a strawberry milkshake.

"You have great taste!" Sandra commended him. "I'll have whatever he's having," she told the waiter.

Sandra observed Elliot while he was sitting down, realizing how happy the boy was to be where he was. She could tell that he was a kind, simple boy, who likely struggled in life.

While waiting for their food, Sandra decided to strike up a conversation. "I saw you looking at the window, and it looked like you really wanted a burger from here. Is it your first time trying this restaurant?" she asked.

"Yes, ma'am. I always walk past this street, daydreaming that one day, I'll get to try all of the restaurants here, and shop from all of these expensive stores," Elliot admitted. "My family is having a difficult time right now, so we usually only get to eat twice a day."

"You don't need to call me ma'am. Please just call me Sandra," she corrected him. "I'm sorry to hear you guys have been struggling." Sandra suddenly felt uncomfortable that she had just spent hundreds of dollars on clothes when there were people like Elliot struggling to eat daily.

"Do you live nearby?" she asked him.

Elliot nodded his head. "My family and I live in an abandoned building nearby. We don't have a lot of money because my dad is a cripple, and my mom takes care of my four younger siblings at home the entire day. She doesn't have time to work," he revealed.

"Really?" Sandra said, saddened to hear about the situation Elliot was in. "What does your dad do?" she asked.

"In the morning, he goes out on the street to sell his creations. He is a great artist, so he makes sculptures and small novelty items with the plastic bottles and foil tetra packs he finds in the trash," Elliot told Sandra. "He can paint, too, but since he can't afford art materials, he just creates art out of the trash he finds."

This impressed Sandra a lot because she was an avid art collector herself, and by the way the proud son was talking about his father, she was sure that the work was good.

Sandra wanted to help him and his family, so she decided to open up about her own life in hopes of gaining Elliot's trust. She wanted to make him feel comfortable around her.

"You know, I recently lost my husband," she told him. "We never had any kids because we focused on our careers too much. To cope with the loss, I started to collect artworks. I would love to have your dad make some pieces for me."

Elliot's eyes lit up as soon as he heard this. "Really? You would trust him to make some sculptures for you?"

Sandra nodded her head. "Yes, I would love that – sculptures, paintings, whatever it is he can make for my house. You see, I live in a big, empty house. Ever since my husband died, the house feels so dull and devoid of life. I want to add some color to it," Sandra shared.

"If you and your family are free tomorrow, I'd like for you to come over. This is my calling card. You'll find my address there, and here's a twenty-dollar bill. I hope you can take a cab to my house tomorrow, and we can talk then. How does that sound?"

Elliot took the calling card and the money, nodding his head. "We'll be there. Thank you, Sandra. This means a lot to my family, and it's going to help my dad earn money! I'm sure he'll be delighted." He hugged Sandra.

At that moment, their food suddenly arrived. Elliot was so happy that he kept thanking Sandra for treating him to a good meal. They both devoured their burgers in silence, savoring every bite and complementing it with their fries and milkshakes.

When they finished, Elliot hugged Sandra again. "Thank you, Sandra. I never thought I'd get the chance to eat here," he told her. "I can't wait to tell my parents about you. I promise, we'll be at your house tomorrow," he said before waving goodbye.

The following day, Sandra prepared for Elliot's family's visit. While she had no assurance that they'd show up, a part of her was confident that they'd show up that day.

Although Sandra had not prepared a meal for other people in quite some time, she was excited to dust off her recipe book to make lunch. She chose to make her specialties, particularly baked spaghetti and chicken parmesan.

True enough, shortly before lunchtime, Sandra's doorbell rang. She opened the door and saw Elliott with his parents and four younger siblings. "Hi, Sandra," Elliot said, waving at her.

"Hello, Elliot! You guys came. Thank you for coming," she said, greeting everyone in his family. "I'm Sandra. Please, come in."

Sandra was happy to have guests in her house. She hadn't invited anyone in since her husband passed away. She placed the hearty lunch she prepared on the dining table and Elliot's family happily devoured it.

"You make delicious food," Elliot's mother complimented, smiling. "Thank you for inviting us over."

"It's not a problem at all. I'm glad I met Elliot yesterday. He told me all about your family," Sandra replied.

She didn't want to say much just yet because she wanted them to enjoy the food, but once they were through, Sandra started to propose something to Elliot's parents.

"I'm not sure if Elliot has told you, but he told me that you were quite the artist, sir," she said to Elliot's dad.

"I'd really love to liven up my home. I just feel adding sculptures and paintings would make this structure feel more like a home, and I'd like to hire you to make some for me," Sandra revealed.

Elliot's parents, Mia and Roger, couldn't contain their emotions after hearing what Sandra said. They were both in shock that someone so wealthy would trust them so much to create pieces for her mansion.

"Of course, my house is quite a commute from downtown where you live. There are free rooms in my home. I would love for you to stay with me while you work on the art pieces," Sandra added.

Sandra's offer was too good to be true for Elliot and his family. They couldn't believe their luck, and they couldn't help but cry at her kindness. Not only did she offer Roger a job that would help them save up for the future, but she also offered them a free place to stay while working.

Although Mia and Roger were hesitant to accept the offer because they weren't sure Sandra would like Roger's work, Sandra insisted that they accept her offer. Eventually, they did, and Elliot and his family slowly moved into her home in the next couple of days.

Roger made a couple of intricate, well-crafted sculptures and paintings, which he closely worked on with Sandra, who would tell him about her preferred designs and color schemes.

While they lived in the same house, Sandra and Elliot's entire family got to know each other better. Sandra and Mia would prepare their meals together and eventually became good friends.

After Roger's works were completed, Sandra paid him a hefty sum, which he wanted to decline. After all, she had been so gracious to them by giving them a comfortable place to live and food to eat for a couple of weeks.

However, Sandra refused to take no for an answer. She handed him the money and asked him to use it to jumpstart his savings for his family's future.

When all the works were up, Sandra started to invite her neighbors over. She introduced Roger to them, and soon, more and more people started to hire him for their art commissions.

At first, Roger wondered how he'd be able to accommodate the work in the abandoned building they lived in downtown. But before he could ponder the thought, Sandra asked his family to keep living with her, as she already saw them as her own family.

After some thinking, they agreed, with the condition that Sandra would allow them to help out with their daily chores and to pay for their monthly groceries. They didn't want Sandra to feel as if they were taking advantage of her kindness, so they wanted to contribute one way or another.

Since then, they became a happy, collaborative household. Sandra helped Mia take care of her children and run the household, while Roger continued working as an artist to earn money for his family.

What can we learn from this story?

• When you have the opportunity to help other people, do it. Sandra was casually walking down the street when she saw a hungry-looking boy peeking through a restaurant window. She decided to approach the young boy and offer him a meal because she realized she could use a meal herself. In the end, this kind gesture led her to affect change in the life of the boy and his entire family by giving them opportunities to rise from their difficult situation.
• Sometimes, the most random chance encounters lead to the most beautiful opportunities. Sandra simply wanted to do something nice for a young boy, but after finding out about his story, she decided to do more than just treat him to a burger. Their chance encounter led Elliot's dad to find a source of income, his family to find a home, and Sandra to find a group of people who brought her out of her loneliness and treated her like family.

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If you enjoyed this story, you might like this one about a beggar who gives half of his pizza to a hungry rich man, only for the businessman to give half of his business to the beggar.

This piece is inspired by stories from the everyday lives of our readers and written by a professional writer. Any resemblance to actual names or locations is purely coincidental. All images are for illustration purposes only. Share your story with us; maybe it will change someone's life. If you would like to share your story, please send it to info@amomama.com.