How the Chicken Piccata at Paizanos Made Me Cry

After 19 years of marriage, I am getting a nasty, unexpected divorce.

I am still shocked by his betrayal, and trying to figure out what to do with the rest of my life. I prayed deep into the night begging for direction, hope and guidance.

I was in downtown Norcross, waiting as my 12-year-old daughter rehearsed for the play “To Kill a Mockingbird” at Lionheart Theatre. Usually, I wait in the back of the quaint, white historic church theater while she has play practice.

That night was different. The weather was so warm and inviting, everything was starting to show the promise of spring. I went down the hill, toward main street in historic Norcross.

A few weeks ago, friends had taken me out to eat to cheer me up. I had the chicken piccata at Paizanos. It was amazing. I could not stop thinking about it.

“I’ll just get a cup of soup,” I said to myself. I was on a tight budget. 

When I got there, I sat in the back, discreetly looking over my divorce and budgeting books. I decided to spend the last bit of this week’s money and get that chicken piccatta.

When it came, I was in heaven. Hot and lemony, I savored every bite.

When the waitress came, I asked her to tell the chef how much I loved it, that I had thought about it for weeks, and though money was tight, I ordered it anyway. When she returned, she asked if I had ever heard of “paying it forward.” She said she would like to buy my dinner, and someday, I would pay it forward for someone else. Tears sprang to my eyes, and I tried to hold them back.

“You have no idea how much this kindness means to me, especially right now,” I said. “I am getting a divorce.”

She almost started to cry, too, and she hugged me. She was young, slim, brunette, and her name was Andrea. She was not some older waitress, who knew my kind of pain. She looked like she was 17 years old.

I left her a tip, and ran to my car to weep. I called my best friend back home in Colorado, and when I told her about it, she cried, too.

Never underestimate how much a small kindness can do for someone else. I feel like this gave me hope, for the future, for society, and for me.

I will pay if forward, and I hope you will, too. 

Cathy Seith is a Duluth resident and has been a stay-at-home mom and community volunteer for 12 years. She has one daughter and they have been involved in community theater for six years. Before motherhood, Seith was a photojournalist for more than 10 years, most recently with the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Visit her website at catvseith.wix.com/photography-cathy-seith.

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