I tripped into this weird collection of stories about strange staircases in the woods that you should never ever touch or step on, weird sightings and strange deaths in the wilderness. It was captivating. I haven’t seen it in so long.

This is a lie with a happy ending and I'll take it to my grave.

TLDR: Mom prayed for help to fund a trip with her kids; thinks he delivered

Background - My mother is a very emotional person and there are 5 boys in my family. So she doesn't get to have alot of emotion moments that she gets to share with her kids. We mostly just make fucn of her (in a playful way) and everyone moves on. She has cried at every big, medium, and small event in our lives, and I love that I have a woman in my life that cares so much about me and my siblings.

Background 2 - I was a jerk of a kid. But I am actively trying to make up for the patience my parents had for me.

Story - My parents are almost empty nesters and live in Colorado, last year by complete mistake all of her kids found jobs/school in Utah County, Utah. We all live about 20 minutes from each other, completely on a fluke. My mother decided she wanted to take up on one last road trip, so we flew in to Colorado, and she drove us back home. It doesnt sound like too much, but my family is poor and it was a very nice gesture. Plus there are places on the way we always used to stop at, like the Little America Hotel in WY. And the Grand America brunch buffet. All of this is far too expensive for my parents so on the way I discreetly called and payed for everything, or would sneak out during a meal to "go to the bathroom" and would slip a waiter a card.

At each stop the staff would play along and mention how the room had to be changed so they gave it to us for free, or how a kind stranger payed for our meal. And I was never caught. My family's appreciation for the amazing people of the midwest was too much for my mother and she broke down to me and told me how she had no idea how she was going to pay for our trip but she did it anyway because she wanted to be with her boys one last time before we were all too busy, or she too old. She then told me how she prayed for help and God gave it to her.

I am not religious, but my Mom is and there is no way I'm going to tell her the most spiritual experience she had had in a long time was her sneaky son.

Love you Mama.

edit: Moral of the story kids, being good to your parents can get you gold. Doooo iiiiiit.