Verona Woman Gets Christmas ‘Sign From Above’ From Mystery Soldier

A Verona woman got the sign she's been looking for from a mystery soldier and his simple act of kindness.

Often, the true meaning of Christmas gets lost in all the commercialism surrounding the holiday. In the end, Christmas is about kindness and love - to each other, and to strangers. A Verona woman had an experience that touched her so much, she felt compelled to share.

Alexis Peters shared her story on Facebook:

"Today we stopped into LaRoma's in Rome to have a lunch before heading back to our farm to finish chores when something incredibly sweet happened. Scott, myself and our two kids sat down to eat and about 20 min later our waitress came over and said that the military man that was eating lunch paid for your entire meal and my tip. Confused I looked around and asked who he was because I immediately wanted to thank him for his gracious act of kindness and to thank him for his service but she informed me he wanted her to wait and to tell us after he left. I asked her what his name was being she said he paid with a card but she said she was worried he may get upset as he asked not to have his name told to us.

First off I want to publicly thank you who ever you are. Thank you for your random act of kindness and for your service and sacrifice for our country. Your kindness and sacrifice has not been over looked. The lunch bill you paid...paid for a former Military spouse (also a military brat) and my own two military brats who’s father is currently serving overseas as we speak and for my other half who’s a very hard working man who took on two little ones as if their his own.

I also want to thank you for being the ‘sign from above’ that I needed! See I run a program called Hooves for Heroes here at Silent Hooves Farm in Verona. I recently have been contemplating on shutting it down due lack of community support and people who try to abuse/disrespect our program. The last 3-4 weeks it’s weighed on my heart as this program is a passion of mine and has been since I started it in FL seven years ago. 99% of the funds for this program comes out of mine and Scott’s pocket. We literally offer this program at NO cost to its participants And solely ran on our passion for giving back to those who serve our country and keep us all safe. Scott and I were literally JUST discussing again about closing the program down the 1st of the year as it has drained us mentally this past summer especially. I’ve prayed about it for weeks as I wasn’t 100% good with closing it down but didn’t really see the purpose anymore especially in this area.

Today YOU were the sign from above that we needed. Your simple act of kindness really made us realize how much this program means to us and how much we love serving our local military. I don’t know who you are but PLEASE who ever you may be feel free to stop our farm both your family and military family and enjoy our horses! It’s completely FREE! If you don’t have a place to go for Christmas dinner we would be honored to open our doors to you or any other military member who may not have family to eat with this Christmas! Come join us and our family and barn family for dinner if you’d like!"

If you're the soldier that paid for Alexis' and her family's lunch - thank you. And Alexis, thank YOU for sharing your story and reminding us all about the true meaning of Christmas. 

If you'd like to support Hooves for Heroes or learn more, feel free to contact Alexis on Facebook via the page for Silent Hooves Farm. Hooves for Heroes provides FREE services to a program that is free to veterans, active duty members, COs and law enforcement officers.