Every time I read about various happenings around the country, I often wonder how much worse things can get. With everything that is happening, it’s hard to remember that not everyone has lost their minds. Usually, when I start to feel really depressed about the state of the world, something will come along to remind me not to give up hope just yet.

I already wrote about how Matt and I went to Disney World during his leave, but I’ve been encouraged by multiple people to blog about this specific event.

We stayed at the Yacht Club in Disney, and we had a great time outside of the parks as well. We hadn’t really had a formal celebration of his homecoming yet, and thought doing so at Disney would be fun. So, Matt brought his dress blues and I brought a black dress, and we made plans to have a fancy dinner while we were there. Well, apparently making reservations when we got there, as opposed to months in advance, was not the smartest plan, because pretty much every single restaurant was booked up. There were openings, but they tended to be either really early (at around 5:00) or really late (around 10:00). We eventually made a reservation at Jiko’s, an African style restaurant at the Animal Kingdom Lodge. We had several options when it came to upscale restaurants, but Jiko’s seemed the most interesting place to me, and so it was there we made our reservations.

We spent most of the afternoon getting ready — or, rather, I spent most of the afternoon getting ready. We got to the restaurant early and took our beeper and wandered around the resort, receiving little attention from the people there aside from a salute from an elderly man in Matt’s direction, and a teenage boy who looked at Matt with such awe and admiration in his eyes that it seemed obvious to me that he’ll be joining the Corps when he’s old enough.

The restaurant definitely did not disappoint — for starters, it has the most exclusive South African wine list in the United States. The menu looked amazing, and I honest-to-God wanted to try everything on it. Of course, considering this was an upscale place that was very pricey, that wasn’t an option, so we settled for a glass of wine each and an appetizer before our meal. All different kinds of people were eating there, from all different countries, and we saw tables with huge families, couples like us, a group of businessmen, and so on. About the time we ordered our entrees (which were about $40 each — again, this is not a cheap restaurant), a lady stopped by our table. She gave Matt a hug, and introduced herself saying, “You two are the most gorgeous couple in here tonight!” She then went on to thank Matt for all he’s done, told us she loved us both, and told him to have a few drinks on her. She shook his hand, slipping a bill into his hand, and then walked back over to her table. We smiled at each other before Matt unfolded the bill and saw that she’d given him a $100 bill, at which point the smiles were replaced with expressions of abject shock. Matt looked at me shaking his head and said, “I can’t accept this.” He walked back over to her table and tried to refuse the money, but when she started to get kind of offended, he took the hint and kept it. Her entire table, though, wanted to say hello and give him hugs, so he made his way around greeting the various members of her family.

We thought that would be all the excitement we’d get for the night. But it was just starting. As we walked back to our table from the generous woman’s table, an Englishman stopped Matt. He told him that his son is in the British equivalent of the Navy SEALS, and that even though he’s not an American, he supports him and everything he does to fight for freedom. He shook his hand and said thank you, and we walked back to our table a little surprised but flattered.

The rest of the evening was relatively uneventful, until we finished our entrees. At that point, our server came by and offered us coffee or dessert, which we declined and just asked for the check. She then informed us that it had already been taken care of by a customer who asked to remain anonymous. She at least told us that it wasn’t the Englishman or the woman who had given Matt the $100, but she stood her ground and wouldn’t tell us who in the restaurant paid for it, which was a little disappointing. We would’ve liked to have been able to tell them thank you, because the thing is, this was no ordinary restaurant — it isn’t like someone bought us dinner at the Olive Garden or something. Our check must have been over $100!

As we got up to leave, we were stopped by a boy who looked to be in middle school or so. He shook Matt’s hand and thanked him for his service, and while they were talking, I made eye contact with the boy’s father, who smiled and nodded at me. I have a sneaking suspicion he’s the one who paid for our bill, but who knows? At this point, I had tears in my eyes. While Matt didn’t say much beyond he couldn’t believe it, I know how much it meant to him. He walked a little taller all the way back to our room. And I felt so uplifted by those people. It was him they were thanking, but it made me feel great all the same. So often, I’m reading stories that are so negative — about servicemembers returning from Iraq being treated horribly, reading stories that make me wonder how we’ll ever rebound from the state that we’re in. But then something like this happens, and it’s a simple reminder that the American spirit of goodness, and humility, and generosity is still going strong. It meant so much to me that those people did what they did, obviously because it was being directed towards my Marine, but any soldier, sailor, airman, or Marine would have deserved the same treatment, and they likely would still have gotten it.

As bad as things may get, it’s not time to despair yet. While politicians may be corrupt liars and cheats, it seems to me that there are som American people who still are good at heart.