The holidays have a way of bringing out both the magic and the generosity in people.

One young family discovered this firsthand when a stranger and his golden retriever turned their ordinary grocery trip into an unforgettable Christmas memory.

You’ll want to read on for this heartwarming story!

A sweet old man and his dog bought us groceries just because

Six years ago, when my daughter was just a few months old, my husband and I went grocery shopping the week before Christmas.

Immediately, they clock a noteworthy character in their periphery.

As we were walking in, we noticed an older man and his dog sitting outside, watching us.

We thought nothing of it, assuming he was probably just people watching, and did our holiday grocery shopping in preparation for a week full of Christmas potlucks that we really couldn’t afford. (Our parents are all divorced and remarried, so we had quite a few to attend.)

So they run into him again at checkout, but his behavior was odd.

As we were getting in line, the man and his dog came behind us with just a Christmas teddy bear, and we insisted that he go ahead of us since our groceries would take a while.

He said no at first, but finally relented and went ahead of us, bought the bear, then rushed outside.

The whole thing struck us as odd, but we shrugged it off.

But when the family walked outside, they were caught off guard by the very same man.

When we went outside, he was standing by the door with the teddy bear and a card.

He told us that he had been planning on paying for our groceries, but when we insisted on having him go ahead of us, it messed up the system he had set up with the cashier.

He was about to give them the most generous gift they’d gotten in a long time.

He gave the teddy to my daughter (who still has it) and gave us a card with more than enough money to cover our groceries, which he had run to withdraw from the ATM while we were still in the store.

The card had his dog’s paw print on the inside and wished us a Merry Christmas.

He told us that he does this every year and will wait outside looking for young families he can help during the expensive holiday season.

His kindness lingered with the couple for long after they parted ways.

It was such an unexpected and beautiful thing for him to do, and I can only imagine how many people he has impacted over the years.

I always hope that I will run into him and his sweet golden retriever so I can tell him thank you, and how much that meant to us 🩷

They left the store that day with groceries, a teddy bear, and hearts full of gratitude.

Redditors chime in with their thoughts.

Acts of kindness are the best way to spread positivity in your community.

This kind man really went out of his way to do something nice for the young family.

It’s hard not to believe something divine played a role in all of this.

The unexpected kindness of this man may just have been the best present the family received all season.

It was a moment of generosity that they’ll carry with them forever.

If you liked that post, check out this story about a guy who was forced to sleep on the couch at his wife’s family’s house, so he went to a hotel instead.