'Frazzled' P.E.I. mom seeks to repay kindness of stranger

Kate Normand of Charlottetown is asking Islanders to show strangers some extra kindness, after she received a stranger's act of generosity this week.

Normand and her children Boone, 2, and Gaia, 5, were in line to pick up some new prescriptions at a Charlottetown pharmacy Wednesday. The kids were "on the verge of meltdowns," she said in a Facebook post about the incident.

When the cashier told her the cost of the drugs, including an aerator attachment for an inhaler for her son, she said "my jaw literally dropped" she had to call her husband to ask him to transfer money to cover the bill.

That's when the woman in line behind her offered to pay.

"I was shocked, and I said 'no, it's too much,'" Normand said. "It's one thing for people to buy you a coffee or a sandwich, but to buy your son medication? It was just like, wow."

The stranger explained she is also a mother and said she recognized Normand was struggling.

Normand said she didn't have a chance to properly thank the generous stranger, since the pharmacist called them for a consultation about the medication, and because she was so "frazzled."

"It was incredible, it was so amazing," she said.

'There is kindness'

Normand has already taken the pay-it-forward sentiment to heart, paying for someone else's order at Tim Hortons on the way home from the pharmacy.

She's already sought out the woman on social media to repay her, but heard through a friend the woman wishes to remain anonymous.

Now, Normand said she plans to take the cost of the prescription and donate it to a mom's mental health group.

"It meant so much more than helping us out financially," she said. "It meant there is kindness everywhere you look. It meant I felt welcomed to the community and supported.

"I truly believe that the majority of people are good," she said, urging others to share their stories of kindness.

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