Restaurant Owner Makes Long Distance Delivery From North Carolina To West Virginia To Fulfill A Stranger’s Final Wish – Southern Living
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When Heather Bowers was dying of cancer earlier this year, she wished for a date night with her husband Joel at their favorite vacation restaurant on the Outer Banks, Mama Kwan’s.
Joel considered making the 10-hour round trip drive to get the food for his wife, but no one could predict how much time she had left.
Bower’s best friend Mary Simmons made a call.
“I know that it’s a long shot,” she told Sherry who answered the phone at Mama Kwan’s, “But my friend is not doing well.”
“Is there any way that you think maybe you all could ship?”
Simmons said by the time their brief conversation was over, Sherry was “bawling” but promised to call her back.
A few hours later, Sherry called Simmons back to let her know the food was on its way and Kevin Cherry, the owner of Mama Kwan’s, would be delivering it that night.
Cherry said when his staff passed along Mary Simmons’ request, he didn’t hesitate. The drive up, though, he said, was excruciating.
“I mean compared to what Heather was dealing with, I was dealing with nothing, but I was very emotional,” Cherry told Southern Living.
At some point during the trip from Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina to Martinsburg, West Virginia – which took six hours – Cherry said he had to stop himself. He turned off the music in his car and talked himself out of the emotions he was feeling.
“You can’t be crying,” Cherry said he told himself in the car. “I wanted to be the bright light from the Outer Banks.”
Simmons said Cherry delivered a lot more than her friend’s favorite pork plate that night.
“You just don’t find that kind of kindness,” Simmons said.
The day after Cherry’s special delivery, Bowers died. She was 47.
Cherry honored the woman he’d just met with a sign on Mama Kwan’s marquee.
“Rest in Peace Heather.”
This experience, he said, changed him in a profound way.
“I realized I want to do more to help other people,” he said.
Simmons said Cherry checks in with her every week and made a donation in Bowers’ name to the hospice facility that cared for her on her final day.
While Cherry has been reluctant to talk about his grand gesture of kindness (“It’s not about me,” he said), Simmons has wanted to share it with the world.
“If maybe one person hears this and it spreads more kindness, then it’s been completely worth it,” Simmons said.
“On top of that,” she added, “I want his business to blow up. I told him, ‘I hope you have so much more business that you have to open a second restaurant.’”
