Tears Started Welling in My Eyes': Mom's Surprise Note from Waitress Goes Viral

A birthday dinner out on the town for Jackie Johnson-Smith, her husband, and their three children took an all-too-typical turn soon after the family sat down: Stellen, only a year old, became fussy.

Stellen (Credit: KCCI-TV)

The sound of crying babies was nothing new for Bodi Kinney, a waitress at Fong’s Pizza in Des Moines, Iowa, who was serving the family for Saturday's celebration.

Then Kinney's ears "perked up" when Stellen stopped crying, she told KCCI-TV:

"...and said, ‘Well, I know why babies stop crying instantly."

Bodi Kinney (Credit: KCCI-TV)

That's right. Johnson-Smith had thrown on a cover and started nursing young Stellen.

“I saw her notice me nursing,” Johnson-Smith told KCCI-TV. “And with my societal fears of being ostracized because of it, I instantly felt panicked. Like, ‘What is she thinking? Is she not wanting me to do it here?’”

Jackie Johnson-Smith (Credit: KCCI-TV)

Nothing could be further from the truth.

Kinney told KCCI-TV that she was so pleased the mother was breastfeeding that she bought one of the family’s pizzas and let them know with a note on the bill. Kinney added: “Please thank your wife for breastfeeding.”

“I read it several times, and tears started welling in my eyes,” Johnson-Smith said. "And I thought, I can’t believe this just happened.”

(Credit: KCCI-TV)

Johnson-Smith posted a photo of the receipt and note to Facebook, adding this comment:

I have breastfed three children... I have breastfed them in countless of places both pleasant and unpleasant, discreetly and out in the open. I have gotten many looks and stares, but tonight erases any negativity I have ever received. I ate at Fongs for the first time tonight. Having a fussy baby I nursed him for awhile in the booth and eventually left the table early as to not disrupt the restaurant. The waitress gave this receipt to my husband. I was speechless and emotional. Although I don't need a pat on the back for feeding my child, it sure felt amazing. It is amazing how we women can make each other feel when we empower each other.

“I wanted her to know that it meant so much to me, and I knew that it would mean so much to other women as well,” Johnson-Smith said.

More from KCCI-TV:

Johnson-Smith said she thinks the reason the note went viral is a testament to how deeply nursing mothers want acceptance for themselves. She said women told her they teared up when they read the note.

(H/T: KCCI-TV)

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