Single-mom waitress in West Virginia gets 'once in a lifetime' tip
Emelee Deming received a $2,000 tip after sharing her story with a couple. (Credit: DaVinci's Restaurant)
WILLIAMSTOWN, W.Va. - A West Virginia waitress said she got a "once in a lifetime" tip after a couple left her $2,000.
The backstory:
24-year-old Emelee "Manhattan" Deming has been serving at DaVinci's Restaurant in Williamstown, West Virginia, since February.
On Sunday, Deming said a middle-aged couple were her last customers of her shift. Deming said the couple wanted to know more about her life story, and she was willing to share the fact that she was a single mother raising a 3-year-old daughter with hopes of pursuing a nursing degree.
RELATED: Lost stuffed otter at Atlanta airport sparks nationwide search for owner
Before the couple left, they requested and paid for any remaining slices of the restaurant's Mississippi mud pie to take home to their son.
Emelee "Manhattan" Deming. (Credit: Emelee Deming)
Deming said she ran the couple's card and started to say goodbye to the couple.
"I told them, ‘Thank you so much! Come and see us again!' and they said, 'We definitely will. Everything is in the Lord's time," Deming told FOX Television Stations.
When Deming looked at the receipt, she saw the couple had left a $2,000 tip even though the initial charge was $148.41.
RELATED: Boy with cancer chases goal to visit all 50 states: ‘He just loves America’
"I was immediately sweating, shaking. I asked him, ‘What does this say?’ and he said, ‘That says $2,000,'" Deming added. "I said, ‘No way’ and he said, ‘Yes way. It is totally yours.'"
What they're saying:
Deming said she heard about this level of fortune happening to other waitresses but only in the news. She said she couldn't believe it had happened to her.
"I wanted to be pinched," she continued. "I thought it was like a dream come true."
Deming believes the couple, being parents themselves, acted out of the kindness of their hearts, but it has restored her faith in humanity.
"It restores my faith that there are good people in the world," she added.
Dig deeper:
Deming said she had worked in a hospital but had to return to waitressing because the hours were better for taking care of her daughter.
She said before this week, the biggest tip she ever received was $500 from waitressing.
What's next:
Deming said she will put the money into a savings account until she figures out how best to use the money.
The Source: The information in this story comes from an interview Emelee "Manhattan" Deming gave to FOX Television Stations, where she shared details about her experience receiving a $2,000 tip from a couple at DaVinci's Restaurant in Williamstown, West Virginia, as well as her background as a single mother and her future goals. This story was reported from Los Angeles.