After struggling to conceive on their own, Dan and Maxi Cortez underwent a round a IVF in hopes of growing their family and having a baby.
The process proved to be successful, and not one, but three babies were conceived. In May of 2015, the three precious triplets were joyfully welcomed into this world via c-section. They spend a few weeks in NICU to recover, and then all three healthy little ones–Landon, Harper and Harlow–headed home with their parents.
But just two weeks later, their lives changed forever when they noticed their son Landon acting strangely. After Dan rushed him back to the hospital, he was diagnosed with the rare condition of Citrobacter koseri bacterial meningitis. At the age of just seven weeks, little Landon passed away, leaving his sweet sisters and devastated parents behind.
“From the time, he was born he never closed his eyes,” his mother Maxi stated. “He just wanted to be awake all the time. It’s like he knew that he only had a short time.”
This Father’s Day was their first without Landon, and while Dan and Maxi were thrilled to celebrate with their daughters, the absence of their son was difficult.
But a simple gesture of kindness on that day gave them a welcome bit of encouragement. The Cortez family celebrated by eating out at Red Lobster, and then the waitress handed them a note. When they opened it, they were amazed to see that a nearby family had paid for their meal, and scribbled a note across the bill which read, “Enjoy your babies, they don’t stay little long. From the family across from you, God bless you.”
Afterwards, Maxi took to Facebook to share the story and express how blessed they’d been by the gesture.
“To the family in Red Lobster who sat across from us today. You never ask a question we never spoke a word. Yet you did something for us that we will never forget. When the waitress handed us your note the tears began to fall. To you we looked like just a family of 4 celebrating the most important man in our lives. Little did you know last year we celebrated as a family of 5.
You see this past year we lost one of our triplets! The holidays are always the hardest. Without knowing any of this you paid for our meal. You might never know our story or the impact of something so little could effect our lives. I’m writing you to thank you from the bottom of our hearts! I hope this post reaches you, so one day you might know that what might seemed like a small gesture of kindness to you, made celebrating my wonderful husband just a little bit easier this year!
Please share so maybe they can see this!!”