Indiana Mom Celebrates Late Son's Birthday By Paying For Stranger's Cake

Carolyn Mick received a sweet surprise when she picked up her birthday cake at a Plainfield Kroger on Saturday.

She found out that a complete stranger paid for the cake, which came with a note that said:

Today is my son's 35th Birthday, his 5th one in Heaven. In his memory, I've paid for your cake. Please enjoy, make special memories and hug your children and loved ones tight. My son loved cake!

Love Toni,

Tyler's mom.

Carolyn told WRTV that the note moved her to tears because she also knows what it feels like to lose someone close. Her mother passed away three months ago.

She doesn't personally know Toni so she couldn't tell her what she felt in person. Instead she shared a photo of Toni's handwritten note in a Facebook group for Plainfield residents.

Toni got the message, and that's when the full story came out.

Tyler Wilson was a 29-year-old studying to be a doctor when he suddenly died in 2015. Toni Wilson-Taylor has been doing something special each year to keep her son's memory alive. One year she and her daughter got Captain America tattoos because he loved superheros. Another year she sprinkled Tyler's ashes in California, Mexico, and other travel destinations her son enjoyed.

This year Toni celebrated by paying for someone's cake because Tyler loved cake and making people happy. She wasn't expecting to hear from the cake's recipient, but Carolyn's message made her day even brighter.

"It made our day as a family so much better. We miss him every day but to know that other people were thinking about him that day — complete strangers — and to be able to read all the beautiful posts was very uplifting for us," Toni told WTHR.

"It's amazing. It's such a feel good thing. I thought I was doing something so small and insignificant the other day, just asking God that Tyler knew I did something for him like that, not expecting it to touch so many lives in such a positive way."

Photo: Getty Images