Diners Give Happy Waitress with Horrid Past $6,000 for Christian College Tuition

Teresa Neumann : Jan 8, 2014
Rick Couri - WSB–TV

"I tried to thank them, but they said, 'thank God.' It's always been my dream college to… play basketball and go to a Christian school where I can seek God." -Abigail Sailors

(Lincoln, NE)—It all started when two men, wishing to remain anonymous, walked into a Cracker Barrel restaurant in Lincoln, Nebraska, and asked to be served by the "grumpiest" waitress on duty because they wanted to make her smile. (Photo: Abigail Sailors/MORGAN SPIEHS/Lincoln Journal Star)

They were told there was no one grumpy on staff, so instead, the hostess placed them with 18-year-old Abigail Sailors, who was considered to be the "most cheerful" waitress on the floor.

During the course of their meal, the customers engaged young Sailors in a discussion about her life and came to find out, in short, that the waitress had suffered a tragic life of loss and abuse in which she ended up in foster care.

Numerous reports say that the men, stunned that Sailors could approach life with such a joyful outlook despite her past, asked her what her plans for the future were.

Having just completed her first semester at Trinity Bible College, she told them she hoped to continue her studies in youth ministry and psychology.

To her disbelief, the men not only left her a $100 tip, which she shared with another waitress, but they also wrote her a personal check in the amount of $6,000 for tuition and book fees.

"I tried to thank them," she said, "and they said, 'thank God.' It's always been my dream college to go there and play basketball, and go to a Christian school where I can seek God."