In the midst of a busy Saturday night shift, a suburban waitress was left stunned when she received a $2,500 gift from someone identified only as her “guardian angel.”
Imelda Murphy Sprenger said she had heard a group of regular customers requested to sit in her section that night, but the restaurant was too busy so they sat in another location.
She had planned on stopping by their table to say hello, but in the chaos that is a Saturday night shift at Nick’s Pizza & Pub in Crystal Lake, she simply didn’t have time.
Once Murphy Sprenger realized who the guests were, she knew she had to stop by.
At the table was the daughter of man she had known for several years, a pilot she identified only as Leo, who had frequented the restaurant with fellow pilots for years. His daughter Kim was dining with her family that night.
Years ago, the group of pilots, including Kim's father, helped Murphy Sprenger in a time of need. She had longed to go to her sister’s wedding at her home in Ireland, so the group left her an envelope with $1,000 to pay for her trip.
Over the years, Murphy Sprenger had become close with Leo’s family. They even helped throw her an impromptu baby shower.
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But on Saturday night, Murphy Sprenger could tell something was different.
“[Kim] sat down and I could tell she was a little nervous,” she said. “I could tell that about her.”
That’s when the woman handed Murphy Sprenger an envelope.
“Kim gave me this envelope and I’m like, ‘What’s this?’ and she said, ‘Oh, this is from your guardian angel’ and she goes, ‘I’m serious’ and she was very serious. And my legs started to wobble," Murphy Sprenger said.
Inside the envelope was a card.
“I read in the letter, it was like this beautiful butterfly card, it said, ‘Imelda, here’s hoping this helps on getting you back to Ballinrobe in 2017,’” Murphy Sprenger recalled. “And the most beguiling thing about this is no one knows where I live. And then she wrote, ‘Cheers.’ That was it.”
Murphy Sprenger said she only knows the person who gave her the gift was once served by her at the Crystal Lake eatery and happened to know Kim and her family.
“I guess a couple of years ago, this lady was at Nick’s. I took care of this lady and her family,” Murphy Sprenger said. “I don’t know but she remembered me for some really odd reason and I stood out and I guess made an impression or whatever.”
News of the gift was posted to the restaurant’s Facebook page by owner Nick Sarillo.
“I don’t even know how to explain what happened tonight with our, very special Imelda Murphy Sprenger,” Sarillo wrote. “She received a $2500 tip/gift from a woman who only wants to be known as her guardian Angel! Magic happens again.”
It’s not the first time the restaurant has made headlines thanks to generous guests.
Last June, one guest tipped a bartender at the eatery’s Elgin location twice in one night, for a total of $1,500.
Try as she might, Murphy Sprenger said she hasn’t been able to find out who her “guardian angel” is. She’s hoping to plan a trip to her hometown, where she hasn’t been since that fateful five years ago for her sister’s wedding, sometime this year.
Asked if Murphy Sprenger had a message to the mysterious woman, she sighed and said, “I’m overwhelmingly grateful.”
“And wish I knew who it was so I could just give her the biggest, tightest hug in the world,” Murphy Sprenger said. “She really is my guardian angel.”
