The Heartwarming Reason 1 Stranger Paid For This Single Mother's Meal at IHOP

When Suzanne Maughan and her daughter, Hayley, went out for pancakes at IHOP one morning, they ended up making a new friend — and getting a free breakfast.

During their breakfast, Suzanne noticed a woman sitting by herself at a nearby table, who kept glancing over and smiling at her and her daughter. When their meal arrived and Suzanne started helping Hayley cut up her pancakes, the stranger leaned over and said, "You must have the best mom in the whole world. Never forget how amazing she is," Suzanne explained in a post on the Love What Matters Facebook page.

The woman identified herself as Mary and said she has a 49-year-old daughter in Baltimore. "Throughout the meal, we would have little conversations, but mostly, she seemed to just be observing my relationship with my daughter and smiling at us," Suzanne wrote in the post.

When Suzanne went to pay for their breakfast, they had a surprise waiting for them: Mary had already covered the bill and left a sweet message for them on their receipt, which read, "Thank you for sharing your mother day and daughter day with me."

Suzanne went on to explain why Mary's random act of kindness had such a profound impact on her. "Mary doesn't know I'm a single mother of two," she wrote. "She doesn't know how difficult this week has been for me. She doesn't know my anxieties and insecurities and how much I pray to not feel so lonely." The single mom called Mary her "angel" and noted that she reminded her and Hayley "how loved [they] are."

Many people were so moved by Suzanne's sweet story, as they flooded her post with comments praising how both of these women had such a positive influence on each other.