BRANSON, Mo. -- A waitress down on her luck got the Christmas tip of a lifetime, and while it's not uncommon for people to be a little more generous around the holiday, Cindy Grady received a tip that could not have come at a better time.
"I was into a spot where I was, I dunno depressed, of course driving that car there, it's like just feeling like nobody cares you know, and it's very different now,” Grady said.
Grady said she loves her job waiting tables in Branson, but she said getting there was a problem because of the five deer she’s hit.
"It runs pretty good, it's just the cosmetic work on it that's just falling apart,” Grady said. “The deer really got to it."
Little did Grady know that some regulars at the restaurant, a couple from Arkansas, had noticed her car in the parking lot a few months back.
"I thought it was abandoned actually,” Gary Tackett said. “It looked in such bad shape. Come back the next trip and that car was still sitting in the parking lot"
Thackett and his wife had only met Cindy in passing so they started asking around the restaurant about the owner of the car and soon learned it was an employee.
"I talked to my wife and said you know something needs to be done,” Tackett said.
And so just a few weeks before Christmas they made another trip back to the restaurant and after being waited on by Grady they decided to give her the tip of a lifetime.
“It's not new, but it's new to you,” they said.
The Tacketts said they did not want their daughter to take the phone video that has spread over Facebook.
They simply wanted to take care of someone simply because they could.
"It's all about what's in your heart, I know Cindy said it was her best Christmas ever, and I can assure you it's ours,” Tackett said.
"It restored my faith in humanity, and everyone I talked to says the same thing,” Cindy said.
While the Tackett's gift may be what catches people's attention, Grady hopes that those who see the story take away something else.
"There are good people in this world, that are watching, that care, ya know? And you may not even know ‘em."
