Grieving Woman Honors Grandson With Act Of Kindness At Grocery Store

October 18, 2018

A Publix supermarket employee in Jacksonville, Florida, took to Facebook after witnessing a kind gesture by a grieving grandmother.

Nick DeClemente said the woman came up to the bakery counter and asked if they had any first birthday cakes. When he asked for the customer's name she began to cry.

"A lady just came up to the bakery counter and asked if we had any 1st birthday cakes on order for Saturday or Sunday. She said she wanted to pay for one. I asked what the customer name was thinking she was paying for a specific person. She said no I want to pay for one anonymous. She then started to tear up and tell me that she had a stillborn child a year ago and in tribute to him she wanted to pay for someone else's cake.

I went to the cake order drawer and found this one. She told me thank you and appreciated that I let her do this. It was probably one of the most touching things I've seen in all my years working in retail. I hope that this lady finds peace through this tribute and that the customer recieving this gift will, if nothing else, pay it forward."

greiving grandmother act of kindness at store
Credit: Nick DeClemente / Facebook

DeClemente said he originally thought the woman was talking about her own stillborn baby, but later learned that her name is Vanessa Phillips, and the baby was her grandson.

Phillips also commented on DeClemente's Facebook post with good news.

"Nick thank you for sharing my story and helping me honor my grandson. And yes they just had there rainbow baby."

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Credit: Vanessa Phillips