FLAT ROCK, Mich. – A Flat Rock restaurant is searching for a Metro Detroit family that left one of its servers a surprise jar full of money.
At Zorba's Coney Island, the servers try to make all of their customers feel welcome. It's not clear what one waitress did when she waited on this particular family, but it left her with a tip that warmed her heart.
"It's wonderful to be a waitress and know the people still care," Dawn Ratliff said.
Ratliff still can't believe what she's holding in her hands.
"I can't tell you how much money is in the jar," Ratliff said. "I haven't opened it yet."
Just three days before Christmas, the family walked into Zorba's in Flat Rock.
"I heard them talking, saying they were from out of town," Ratliff said.
She took the order of the three adults and two teenage boys just like any other customers. She said it's not clear what she did to deserve such a big tip.
As one boy left the restaurant, he returned with a jar. He and his brother hid the jar under the table, then walked to the register to get Ratliff's attention.
"They put this jar on the counter, and they said they wanted me to have it," Ratliff said. "The first thing I thought (was) they're giving me their piggy bank. I said, 'No thank you. I can't accept that.'"
It wasn't a piggy bank, but a Christmas jar. Inside, she found a special message: "May the love of Jesus be with you this Christmas."
"I just want to tell them thank you," Ratliff said.
She said she thinks she understands what the jar represents.
"To me, I take it as two young boys saved all year to give someone an awesome Christmas," Ratliff said.
She hugged the boys before the mystery family left.
Over years, Ratliff received many tips, but this one warmed her heart and reminded her what the holidays are all about.
"Giving is truly more important than receiving," Ratliff said.
Ratliff said she will take the jar and have her children fill it up and pass it on to someone else next year.
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