Stranger on a Train Passes Mom of Well-Behaved Boy a Note Praising Her Parenting Skills

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A Brit mom couldn’t believe it when a mystery man handed her 5 pounds (US$6.50) and a heartwarming note. Moved by the man’s kind gesture, she vowed to track him down.

On Jan. 22, 2015, single mom Sammie Welch, then 23, was traveling with her then-3-year-old son, Rylan, on a crowded train from Birmingham to Plymouth.

Throughout the six-hour-long train ride, Welch was busy keeping her bored and energetic little boy occupied—the mother and son counted sheep through the train window, did some coloring, read a book, listened to nursery rhymes, and chatted with fellow passengers.

Then, while Rylan was eating his packed lunch, they were “laughing at the fact he kept calling his grapes strawberries,” Welch told The Independent.

While on the train, Welch didn’t forget to teach Rylan some manners, such as placing his hands over his mouth while he coughed, using “please” and “thank you,” and saying “pardon” instead of “what.”

Eventually, Rylan fell asleep, and Welch lifted him up onto her lap, making room for another passenger.

Unbeknownst to Welch, she was being watched by a mystery man sitting nearby.

Impressed by Welch’s parenting skills, the man approached her, saying that she had dropped something from her bag before getting off at Bristol Parkway. He handed Welch a piece of paper with a 5 pound bill tucked inside.

The paper, with a note scribbled on the back, read: “Have a drink on me. You are a credit to your generation—polite & teaching the little boy good manners.”

The note further continued: “PS, I have a daughter your age. Someone did the same for her once. I hope when she has children she is as good a mother as you!”

The stranger signed off as, “Man on train at table with glasses and hat.”

The stranger’s kind note reminded Welch of her worth in a touching way.

“I couldn’t believe it, it was very overwhelming,” Welch said.

“I was just being a normal mom, but when I read the note I felt this incredible warmth,” she added, as reported by The Daily Mail.

Welch was so touched by the stranger’s gesture that she not only read the note over and over again but also took to Facebook to track him down. She posted a picture of the note and asked her friends to circulate it.

As this story of kindness made national news, the mystery man was finally identified.

He was Ken Saunders, a then-50-year-old. Speaking of his kind deed, Saunders told ITV’s Good Morning Britain, “It brightened up my day a bit to see a young mother setting a great example for her son and coping with a very bouncy young lad on the train.”

“She brightened up my day, and I wanted to brighten hers,” he said, according to the Swindon Advertiser.

Not long after, the three had a heartwarming reunion at Ken’s residence, and it was broadcast live on Good Morning Britain.

According to The Dailymail, Ken said, “It was very emotional. Very emotional.” The entire heartwarming episode had everyone in tears.

This story shows how a random act of kindness can have a lasting positive impact on someone’s life.

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