Even in the hardest moments, kindness shines a light.

This hotel employee provided a glimmer of hope to a lonely hotel guest who was distressed about his wife being in the hospital. She ate dinner with him every night for two months.

Read the heart-warming full story below.

Dinner date with a guest

I was raised in the hospitality industry. My dad buys old hotels and motels, fixes them up, and then sells them again. During the fix-up process, he keeps them operating like normal hotels.

As his oldest child, it was usually my responsibility to help keep things running. So I thought I’d share some of my favorite tales.

This one takes place after I decided to stretch my wings and work for a hotel not owned by my family. I was alternating between second and third shift at this hotel.

At the time, I had my hair dyed a ridiculously bright red, like fire truck red, and while my boss had been hesitant to let me keep it, I never got anything but compliments from guests.

This particular hotel was located near a hospital and offered a discount and shuttle service for people with relatives at the hospital.

During one of my second shifts, an older man came to check in. He was staying for a week with the hospital rate and looked very distressed. His English wasn’t great, but he did his best.

Several times during the process, he mentioned how much he liked my hair. He also got very talkative about why he was staying there, and since it was a slow night, I indulged him.

This front desk employee started eating dinner with the lonely older guest.

It turned out that his wife had been flown to our hospital from Puerto Rico. After he checked in, he went to the hospital to check on his wife and stayed there for a while.

I was still on shift when he returned, and he asked me where he could get some food. I gave him a list of restaurants that delivered to us.

He asked which one was my favorite and what I liked to eat there, then wandered off to make his call and lingered around the lobby waiting for the delivery.

When the delivery showed up, he brought his food to the desk and set a box in front of me. He told me that he hadn’t eaten dinner alone in 50 years, and he wasn’t ready to start.

He had ordered the food that I told him was my favorite and was hoping that I’d be able to eat with him. Since my relief had already shown up, I clocked out early and sat in the breakfast room with the guest to eat our food.

They ate together for two months, until his wife passed,

Every night after that was the same thing. He’d come home from the hospital and ask me to order food for him so he could get the front desk discount, and I’d order my own food or warm up whatever I brought.

His wife wasn’t doing well, and he ended up having to stay with us for almost two months. We had dinner together every night. I lived two blocks away and would even come in on my days off.

The guy was really nice and really lonely. His wife wasn’t doing well, and none of his kids were able to get to the U.S.

He called me Red even after I changed my hair, and he would tell me all about his life in Puerto Rico and his kids. After a lifetime of bad guests, it was a really great experience.

His wife ended up passing away in the hospital, and he made sure to wait for me to come into work before leaving. He thanked me for the dinners and let me know that I’d made a hard time a little bit better.

A little compassion can make a lot of difference to someone.

Other people in the comments section have something to say.

A simple thank you from this user.

Well said.

More commendation for the hotel employee.

This user is overwhelmed with emotions.

People appreciate her kindness.

Proof that human connection can brighten up the darkest days.

If you liked that post, check out this post about a rude customer who got exactly what they wanted in their pizza.