Man wants to thank mystery woman who bought his birthday dinner at Chili's

A Michigan man is hoping to track down a stranger after a chance encounter in the parking lot of a restaurant in Allen Park. 

Al McCurdy and his family celebrated his 34th birthday with dinner at Chili's on Monday. Ane he got a gift he never saw coming. 

"Little did she know, she was an angel," said McCurdy. "An angel that came out of nowhere and blessed us and left."

The chance encounter started with a compliment.

"As soon as I pulled in the parking lot, this weird looking white van just pulled up on the side of me, rolled the window down and said, 'Those are some nice rims.' I'm like, 'Thank you ma'am.'" That woman turned out to be his angel, and very much an admirer of the rims on his Cadillac.

"She said, 'You going into Chili's? Don't go in there - if you go in there, I'm going to steal your rims.'  I'm like, 'Ma'am don't steal my rims, it's my birthday, you don't want to steal my rims.'"

After trading a few laughs they all went inside, McCurdy and his family - and the mystery woman who would prove to have a heart of gold. 

"They walked in together, she split off, though she went into a different section and he went into a different section," said Luis Diaz, the waiter. "And she let me know immediately, 'That couple at that table, I want to purchase their dinner.'"

All the while McCurdy and his family were unaware of her intentions.

"When we finally got finished eating, they brought us some take out carriers and we're like, 'Where is the bill at?'" McCurdy said. "So then the manager and the waiter came like, 'The lady that stated she was going to steal your rims, she actually took care of your bill.' I'm like, what?"

"They were like shocked," Diaz said. "They stopped like, 'Are you serious?' I'm like yeah, 'They purchased your dinner.'"

So what motivated the mystery woman joking about wheels to cover a family's $75 dinner bill? Remember it was McCurdy's birthday and turns out it wasn't his alone.

"I was told by the manager that her husband was in the hospital and she said his birthday was the following day and she just felt like doing a good deed," McCurdy said.

"So she wanted to purchase their dinner as a celebration basically," Diaz said. "So I feel like what she did is she took her sadness and turned into somebody else's happiness."

That gesture of grace and goodwill is not lost on McCurdy.

"We really appreciate that being generous for us, we really appreciate that," he said. "We thank you for the heart that you have and we're trusting and believing that things will work in your favor whatever you stand in need of."

FOX 2 is told the woman left the restaurant before McCurdy and his family could thank her. They don't even know who she is.

McCurdy has a clothing line and would love to get that woman and her husband some gear to show his appreciation. So, ma'am, if you're able to see this please give us a call at 248-5525180 we'd love to reunite you.