Noah is a 9-year-old boy who has a big dream: he wants to be a police officer when he grows up. He admires the men and women who wear the uniform and serve the community. One day, he had a chance to show his appreciation to one of them.
He was having breakfast with his mom at Denny’s when he spotted a police officer sitting alone at a nearby table. His name was Eddie Benitez. Noah felt a surge of excitement and nervousness. He wanted to do something for him, but he wasn’t sure what.
He told his mom about the police officer, and they came up with a plan. Noah asked his mom if he could go and say hi to Eddie. His mom said yes, but when Noah got close to Eddie, he got too shy to speak. He decided to change his plan, and he did something that would make Eddie jump out of his chair a few minutes later.
Noah had some birthday money that he had saved up. He wanted to use it to pay for Eddie’s breakfast. His mom, Amanda, called the waitress and told her about their idea. They paid for Eddie’s bill, and Noah wrote a message on the receipt.
Then Noah took the receipt and walked over to the police officer. Eddie was puzzled when he saw Noah holding his receipt, but he soon realized what had happened. . After reading what the young boy had written, he jumped out of his seat and took a photo with his new fan.
Noah’s note on the receipt said, “I want to be you when I grow up. Thank you for your service, Noah.”
Eddie was so impressed by the gesture that he still keeps the note that Noah wrote him every day.
He shared the story with 10 News: “It meant everything. It meant that I’m supposed to wake up every morning, put on his uniform, and go out there and do what I do. You know? It means that I need to keep trying to be a good example to all these young guys.”
The Lakeland Police Department, where Eddie works, thought the story was so sweet that they posted a photo of Noah and Eddie on their Facebook page.
Noah was so happy to see the response to his kind gesture. He now wants to be a police officer more than ever.
Share this story with your friends and family to inspire them to be more like Noah and Eddie!
