A Shuswap couple was moved by an act of kindness in a downtown Salmon Arm restaurant and hope their gratitude will find the stranger who did it for them.

Sorrento residents Alfred and Inge Maier were married on Aug. 20, 1966. They try to have a small celebration on the 20th day of each month. To keep up the tradition for the 655th month of their marriage, on March 20, 2021, the Maiers went out for lunch in downtown Salmon Arm.

They were standing outside the Hanoi 36 Vietnamese Restaurant and were encouraged to go inside by a stranger.

鈥淎 beautiful younger woman, dressed in a lovely spring dress and colourful boots encouraged us, saying that every time she comes in from Sicamous, she eats there,鈥� the Maiers wrote in an email.

The Maiers soon noticed that the same woman from outside the restaurant had come in to dine with a companion. When they finished their meal, the waiter told the Maiers that it had been paid for by the woman with the colourful boots.

The Maiers said the woman was not aware of the lunch date鈥檚 special significance to them. They hope their thanks reach the woman or one of her friends as they weren鈥檛 able to give it in person. They described her actions as the kind of thing that brightens these strange times.

鈥淚t will be a very special memory for us, a gift from a beautiful stranger. Thank you,鈥� their email reads.

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