Just over a week ago, the owner of a Canadian diner struck up a conversation with a customer, and eventually their talk turned to news about the owner's daughter, who had just been diagnosed with cancer. A few days later, the same customer returned to the diner, again chatted with the owner, and then paid for his meal with a $10,000 check.

During their first meeting, Cliff Luther, the owner of the Saskatchewan diner, took notice of Bob Erb's Legalize Marijuana pin. Luther asked about it and soon discovered that the appropriately-named Erb is a pot activist.

“He was telling me how he thinks legalizing marijuana is the way to go, you know, which was interesting,” Luther told the Ottawa Citizen. “One thing came to another, and he’s from B.C. and I was telling him how my 25-year-old daughter is out there right now and has just been diagnosed with cancer.”

For Erb, Luther's story hit close to home; his own son died four years ago after a battle with cancer, at the age of 26. “He was emotional about it, just as any parent would be in that kind of situation,” Erb said, adding that Luther “was just looking to talk and learn about things from another perspective.”

Several days later, Erb, who won $25 million in the lottery last fall, returned to the diner and ordered a burger and fries. When he was finished eating, he asked Luther for a pen.

“He asked for a pen and said: ‘Here, you can just take the bill out of that,’” Luther said. "It was a check for $10,000. He just kind of said ‘If you need to get out there quickly, this will help you.’”

Luther hasn't cashed the check yet, but says he will soon. “It certainly lightens the load for us,” he said. “There are just some really caring people out there.”

[via New York Daily News]

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