9-year-old pays for cop's breakfast, leaves inspiring note

This little boy was awestruck when he saw who else was in the diner, and wanted to do something for him.

9-year-old Noah was with his mother at a Denny's one morning having breakfast in Lakeland, Florida, when he saw a police officer, Eddie Benitez sitting alone at a table having his own breakfast.

Having always wanted to be a police officer himself, Noah was immediately both very excited and quite shy, reported FaithTap. He wanted to go and greet the officer, but was too shy to do that.

Eventually, he decided he could do even better than just greeting the officer.

Having saved up money from his birthday, Noah asked his mother if he could please pay for the Officer's meal. She agreed, and called a waitress over to assist.

Noah quietly paid for Officer Benitez's breakfast, and then, with the help of his mother, wrote a note on the receipt for the policeman.

"I want to be you when I grow up. Thank you for your service," he wrote on the receipt.

Then he got up with the receipt in hand, and shyly walked over the officer's table. Benitez was understandably confused as to why a young boy was bringing him his check rather than the waitress, and was absolutely stunned when he realized what had been done.

Benitez was touched by what the little boy had done, and insisted on standing up to take a photo with his little fan.

"It meant everything. It meant that I'm supposed to wake up every morning and put on this uniform and go out there and do what I do. You know? It means that I need to keep trying to be a good example to all these young guys," he said of the special moment.

The Lakeland Police Department were also amazed at what Noah had done, and shared a heartfelt thank you to their Facebook page.

Noah has wanted to be a police officer for 4 years already, and is adamant that he will one day make the world a better place by "capturing the bad guys."

Amanda, Noah's mother, has expressed her own admiration for her young son, and explained that she will be "one proud mom" if her son does pull on the uniform when he grows up.