We have all experienced times where, when one unfortunate thing happens in life, just like a curse, often the bad luck continues until you don’t know what to do any longer. They say things usually come in three’s, but for some, it can continue. This mother of one had the world on her shoulders and was truly at the end of her tether, until one day her son did something remarkable.
Down To Her Last Dollar
It had been a rough day for Amanda Cantin, in fact in general, it seemed as though every day was “one of those days.” Trying to do the best for her child, the single mom had been struggling financially for a while and just when she didn’t think it could get any worse, her beloved son became sick. Worried enough about his health, she also now had the added strain of needing to pay for the medical attention that her sick son needed. In a state of truly losing all hope, Amanda prayed for her situation to improve but little did she know, it would be her 9-year-old boy who stepped up.
Hard Times
Amanda was from Tonawanda, in Erie County and lived there with her son. After recently falling on extremely hard times, she hoped things would be better for them however for some reason, certain situations continued to only get worse for her. Amanda had felt as though her life was spiraling out of control for a while now, but if there was one thing she knew, it was that she had to pick herself and keep on going, for the sake of her son. Sadly, it was in 2015, that her father had passed away and following the very difficult funeral, as she walked back to her car, the loving mother found a parking ticket on the windshield. Wanting to deal with it immediately, Amanda went to the courthouse, but unluckily enough, when she came out, she found yet another cop giving her a second parking ticket! Amanda was exhausted, and just when she thought things couldn’t get any worse, she returned home one day to discover that they could.
A Tough Mom
Arriving at home, Amanda saw that her landlord had evicted her and her son and she was about to face a hard battle in court to settle the dispute. Begging the judge for a helping hand during the hearing, it later came to a close. Amanda reiterated time and time again about her worry troubles, and that it wasn’t the lack of hard work that had put her in this situation. With the courthouse being in a very built up and busy area, there was no parking anywhere, and so she parked in an area where there were no parking signs, hoping that her car would be ok. Unbelievably, when she was walking to her car, she saw the same cop writing out yet another parking ticket! Looking up at the sky, she wondered what she had done to deserve such a bad turn of events. Now facing the struggle of paying off her father’s funeral, all of the parking tickets as well as scrambling to find money for a new apartment, Amanda still managed to put on a brave face for the sake of her child. Never would she have guessed; it was about to get worse.
Bad Luck Continues
In the midst of all the chaos happening in Amanda’s life, the one thing that kept her going was that she needed to keep on moving for the sake of her son, Noah. Any parents can relate to the fact that your children are your number one priority, and you would do anything for them. One day, she received a phone call from her son’s school and was told that he had fallen sick during the day and that he would need to go to the hospital as soon as possible. Obviously, she immediately rushed to collect him from the nurse’s office and drive him to the hospital, where doctors looked after him and saw to him right away. Amanda was panicked and wanted nothing more than her son to feel better, she knew she needed to be strong and was just about keeping it together – until she read the doctor’s bill.
Nowhere To Turn
Amanda never thought things would get so bad to the point that a doctor’s note, would be the thing that pushed her too far. Trying her best to just keep on going, things had really got so unbearable that there didn’t seem to be any way out. Bills were stacking up; her job didn’t pay enough and she had no one to fall back on or even ask for a little bit of help. She really didn’t know what to do and was could really feel the strains of being a single parent, she just wanted somebody to help her and tell her everything was going to alright. Still grieving for her father, these tough times made her miss him so much more. He would have known how to ease her pain.
Time To Step Up
Taking another look at the doctor’s bill, Amanda’s heart sank once again, no matter what she did, she knew she couldn’t afford the co-payment. That’s when she said to herself, this is it, enough is enough and a heated argument between her and the doctor ensued. Amanda was carrying a lot of anger however she really felt the doctor’s bill was much more excessive than what it needed to be. Both of them yelled so loudly that most people waiting in the office were aware of Amanda’s financial hardships, and it was the first time that her son was made aware of how bad things were for his mom. Although he had no idea how, the little man knew his mother was in a bad way, and he felt as though it was his duty to do something about it.
Unexpected Encounter
The mom had definitely hit rock bottom, at least that is what it felt like. To cover the co-pay, she had to overdraft her account. The only money she had to her name was the 15 dollars that she had in her pocket right now, which she used to buy her son breakfast at Denny’s and the remaining few dollars at the arcade. It the midst of the chaos, she figured it would be a nice treat for him following his time in the hospital. Then, while leaving the arcade, Amanda and Noah saw something that instantly made them freeze. Noticing his mom change, she whispered to her son that indeed, the police officer that gave her all of those parking tickets was sitting there in the restaurant.
Blood Boiling
Angry, Amanda felt her whole body cease up in anger, this was a man, that although he didn’t know it, had added so much extra strain onto her life when all she was doing was trying to rectify an existing issue that she had. Feeling overwhelmed, she wanted to shout at the policeman, explain to him her situation and tell him how he had only made things worse for her and her son. She thought about giving him what for and telling him that he should try being in her shoes. How would he have felt if he was her? Then when she felt she couldn’t hold her feelings anymore, something stopped her.
Low Point
During that breakfast, as she watched Noah eat his food, she felt terrible that he was now aware of her problems and felt as though she had failed as a mother. She couldn’t stop thinking about her money woes and wondered how she was going to get them out of this situation. Amanda was angry that this particular police officer, somehow, kept on appearing, and making her situation even worse. As much as tried, she just couldn’t relax.
Future Police Officer
Noah had always told his mom that when he grew up, he wanted to be a police officer and said that it was his “lifelong dream.” As he idolized them so much, every time he saw a cop, he was is in complete awe of them and was dying to talk to them. However, after hearing about his mom’s parking troubles, he was starting to feel conflicted. Whilst they sat there having breakfast, Noah noticed that they were sat just a few tables away from Tonawanda PD officer, Ryan Benitez, who was eating alone. Looking at his mom, he could see that she was in distress, and things circled around in her mind. Noah was nervous while thinking about what to do, his next move could either be courageous or really stupid and regretful, and he certainly did not want to cause Amanda any more stress.
Manners
Noah’s mom raised him all on her own and the one thing she made sure of, was that he had good manners and knew how to treat people. Always reiterating to him, “treat people as you wish to be treated.” Always wanting to lead by example, she didn’t want to tell him what she thought of the police officer since Noah had always looked up to them and she could have never of ruined that for him. But what happened next, was something she certainly did not expect.
Hard Being An Only Parent
In every sense of the way, Amanda was really working on keeping it together. As we do when we are down, our thoughts spiral and she thought about her dad and how it was times like these that she wished she could bring him back and ask him what to do in these kinds of situations. Amanda trusted herself, but she wanted nothing more than a little help and she wished that she could take the troubles away for both her and Noah. Shame is a tough emotion and standing there, she felt utterly ashamed that right now, the money for their breakfast was all that she had. Looking at her boy, she felt proud, and could never have predicted his next move.
Genius Idea
Noah really wanted to step up and talk to officer Benitez about the parking tickets. As he caught his mom looking at her, he felt as though he needed to protect her. Building up the courage to approach the officer, he all of a sudden got very shy and couldn’t think of what to say. As much as he wanted to, he couldn’t find the confidence and found the situation to intimidating. While he continued to eat his breakfast, Noah thought really hard about how he could go up to the officer, either way, he knew he wanted to get his message across and suddenly it came to him, and he thought of a plan.
Executing The Plan
Nodding to himself as though he had just made a firm decision, Noah wiped himself down and walked up to the counter and spoke to one of the waitresses working in the restaurant. Leaning down to listen to him, he explained to the waitress what he wanted and smiling back at him and rubbing his hair, she walked away and came back seconds later with a piece of paper and a pen. After she handed it to Noah, he began writing. Amanda watched on from the table, wondering what her boy was doing and why. What Noah wrote on the paper will leave you, and it did Amanda, truly speechless.
Moment Of Truth
After Noah was done writing his note, he took a huge breath and slowly walked to the table that Benitez was sitting at. This whole time, all of these thoughts were happening around the officer and he had no idea as he blissfully sat there, eating his breakfast. Even though Noah was extremely nervous, he managed to get the courage to walk up to him and give him the piece of paper. At first, the officer was confused by the paper that Noah handed him and wondered what he wanted. As officer Benitez looked closer, his face turned red, while Noah stood there looking stunned.
Heartwarming Gesture
To the officer’s complete surprise, Noah handed Benitez the receipt for his breakfast. A couple of weeks before, Noah had celebrated his ninth birthday where he had received some money as a birthday gift. Rather than buying a toy, the young boy decided to hold on to the money until he saw something he “really wanted.” In a heart-warming gesture, Noah decided to use some of his birthday money to buy Benitez his breakfast! But that wasn’t it – Noah had also written a note for Benitez which contained some very sincere words.
Secret Note Revealed
There beside the receipt, Noah’s note to the officer read: “I want to be you when I grow up. Thank you for your service. Noah Cummings.” The officer could not believe it and was in complete shock. There had been plenty of times when young children had wanted to say hello and shake the officer’s hand, but for a young boy to be so grown up and do what he did, Benitez was overwhelmed. After all, nobody would expect to get their meal paid for by a 9-year-old kid! He immediately knew he had to show his appreciation, but when the officer found out who his mom was, that initial feeling quickly faded, and he became nervous.
Priceless Moment
Officer Benitez shot out of his chair immediately and asked Noah to take a picture with him. The boy was so overjoyed – he’d not only got the chance to meet one of his heroes but he now also had a photo with him. Although Amanda was annoyed by the officer, she couldn’t help but feel overjoyed for her son and was beyond happy as to how the officer had responded to him. Her son had just made her proud beyond belief. Then, wanting to repay the gesture, the officer made one simple phone call that would totally turn Amanda’s life around.
Proud Of Her Boy
Ecstatic, Noah’s mother later posted the cop’s picture on her social media page, not realizing the reaction it would get. “One proud Momma. When your child asks if we can pay for an Officer’s Breakfast!!!! Writes him a message on his receipt,” read Amanda’s post. It was immediately received with hundreds of positive comments from people praising Noah for his big heart and kind gesture, as well as his mother for raising such a sweet and caring son but what happened meant more than anything.
The Story Spreads
When officer Benitez recalled what had happened, his fellow officers decided to contact Amanda and ask if they could share the story on their Facebook page. “Well, Noah you touched all of our hearts today. Your support means so much to all of the men and women who put on the uniform every day. We wish you the happiest of Birthdays!” Additionally, officer Benitez wanted to repay them for such a wonderful and touching gift?
The Boys In Blue
After meeting with the mom and hearing her heart-breaking story, the officer knew what the right thing to do was. He called his captain at the Tonawanda police department and told him to drop the parking tickets right away. And just like that, they were removed in an instant. But when news of this touching moment spread across the police department, other officers came out to show the family their appreciation for supporting the officers.
Encouraged By His Words
Benitez explained how much the note had touched him, “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,” said the officer to ABC7 News. But it was Noah and Officer Benitez’s relationship which got most of the attention, especially from the media.
Dreams Do Come True
Noah has kept in touch with the officer and the other police men, and as a token of their gratitude, he is able to go with his mom to visit the police department whenever he wants. He even got to keep one of the officer’s spare badges to take to school for show and tell. When Amanda was at breaking point, her son’s kind heart shinned through and turned her life around, simply by him being himself. Their story caught the attention too of a particular news channel.
Worldwide Appreciation
This story managed to find itself being told all around the world! Comments started flooding in from Norway, Italy, the Netherlands, and South Africa! One fan wrote: “He is going to be one Great cop! Thank you, Noah, you are a good and thoughtful person. Good luck in the future! You must have a good mom too!”
One Proud Mom
“I’m going to make the world a better place and capture the bad guys,” Noah said. His mom’s reply was truly touching: “If Noah does put on the police uniform and badge in 10 years’ time, I will be one proud mom.”
A Budding Friendship
Noah and the officer were interviewed by ABC7 News after the story circulated the internet, and officer Benitez even let Noah jump in his patrol car, which of course absolutely made his day. The police officer now takes Noah’s note wherever he goes, keeping it in the front pocket of his uniform. “I’ve got it right here, ‘cause I’m gonna keep it as long as I can,” he said.
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