The lady who will be next has 3 little kids in tow. She's watching two, but the third is making a mess. This little girl is having a ball. She's taking all the crinkle filler out of a display basket of snacks and throwing it on the ground.

Lady steps up to order, then gathers her brood, and walks away from the mess without looking back. The man right in front of us, appears homeless or at least struggling, but without a word he bends over and picks up the paper bits and puts each one of them back.

My mum leans over when he's done, touches his shoulder and whispers, "Thank you. That was very kind of you to do that." The man's shoulders immediately sag and he turns to face mum. "Thank you." He continues, "I really needed some human contact and acknowledgement. Seriously, you don't know how much this means to me."

His eyes are wet and we are speechless. He gives mum a huge smile and another warm smile before moving to order. He asks only for a cup of hot water. The barista is sweet and respectful to him and he returns the sentiment, never mentioning the big mess he just sorted out. She hands him his water and he gives mum a grinning nod before going to find a table.

Mum and I look at each other, still in shock about the man's heartfelt thanks and quiet kindness. Mum wonders aloud what kind of drink or sandwich he'd like. I tell her, this one is good, that one looks yum, I dunno.

Nah. She shakes her head. I'll get him a card, then he can get what he wants. We order our teas and on our way out she stops by the man and softly says, "This is for you, its only 10 bucks, but should get you whatever you want here. Merry Christmas."

The man looks up speechless with gratitude and then utters a choked "Thank you." We wish him a Merry Christmas with smiles and eye contact. He blushes and nods in awe of my mum. Who, I already know, is one of the best people on the planet.

She's not perfect, but she's got a good soul and watching this go down made me so proud, I had to share. Thanks for reading my epic ode to mum.