Tucson Restaurant Owner Receives Surprise Gift

A Tucson Restaurant owner in received a surprise gift in the mail. An envelope of cash was delivered, and the reason is quite interesting.

It’s not every day you receive in the mail an envelope of $1,000. But for one restaurant owner in Tucson, AZ, who happens to be a former Wildcat, it was their lucky day. Only question is why?

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The envelope was delivered with a note explaining the reason for the cash. Although the letter is anonymous, the reason for the cash is quite interesting.

According to Caitlin O’Kaine of CBS News, Carlotta Flores, 72, received the cash and letter from someone who claimed to be a former employee. The establishment is El Charro Cafe and Carlotta has been the head of the restaurant for close to 40 years.

"“I worked for you as a waitress very briefly back in the 1990s,” the letter began. “One of the waiters I worked with had encouraged me to ‘forget’ to ring in a few drinks a shift and pocket the cash. And for some stupid reason, I did.”"

Unfortunately it’s not uncommon for employees to steal from their place of work. Restaurants especially have to deal with employees stealing actual money on top of company products. What is uncommon is to receive a sincere apology from the employee, let alone returning the cash 20 years later.

In the world today, it’s nice to see some faith in humanity after all. With all the negativity surrounding our lives, some more than others, good news is always welcomed. And for Carlotta Flores, the good news came just in time.

According to her son, Ray Flores, she was robbed the day before while out buying groceries. The thief stole Carlotta’s purse and everything with it, leaving her understandably shook.

Ray told Caitlin from CBS News, “She came up to me and said in Spanish, ‘baby Jesus is still around.’ She hands me an envelope and this money falls out,” he said. “And I say ‘Are you for real?’ Her eyes welled up and she said, ‘Can you believe it?'”

The family has some plans on what to do with the money. They’ve thought about using it to give back to the Cafe and its employees. Specifically one who recently witnessed their son tragically killed.

Whatever the family chooses to do, they let CBS News know how blessed they feel. It was a heartfelt apologetic letter from someone carrying the weight of guilt for 20 years. There still are good people in this world, and stories like this need to be heard more often.