I called ahead.

I asked if I could bring my son into the bakery without a mask.

I explained to her that my one son is autistic and not able to wear a mask because of sensory sensitivities.

I shared that it was my husband’s birthday and my boys were really excited to pick up daddy’s birthday cake.

After a brief hold, she came back on and told me the owner said it was OK.

I hung up the phone and the boys squealed with excitement.

When we arrived, we were greeted with friendly faces.

Even though I called ahead, I was nervous that a staff member or a customer would say something rude about my son not wearing a mask.

Thankfully, it was the complete opposite.

As we waited in line, my son was roaring like a dinosaur and the woman behind us showed us the chocolate T-Rex she was buying.

My son’s eyes lit up and then he looked over at me.

Without saying a word, I knew he wanted one.

His twin brother took him by the hand and they found a chocolate stegosaurus.

It was our turn and the woman behind the counter looked down at my sons and started to lean in towards us.

I could feel my anxiety start rising as I thought she was going to say something about my son.

But she didn’t.

She said,”Boys, we have a blue bunny hidden in the bakery and if you can find it, you get a free cookie.”

I was pleasantly surprised and the boys started searching immediately.

They held hands and were looking near the cupcakes, donuts and handmade candies.

There it was, the blue bunny.

They showed her they found the bunny and she waved them over to the large display of cookies.

As they stood there with pure joy on their faces choosing one of their favorites treats, I was filled with overwhelming gratitude.

She handed them their green shamrock cookies in little goodie bags and they both thanked her.

As I was paying for our cake, I thanked her for being so kind and making our trip to the bakery enjoyable.

Her response was, “of course, always!”

I thanked her again and said how much I appreciate it because our experiences in public are not always pleasant.

Our trip to the bakery could have been very different and I’ll never forget the compassion and kindness that was shown to us that day.