( CNN ) -- A dinner out turned into an experience of a lifetime for a North Carolina family thanks to one stranger 's heartfelt gesture . Ashley England and her family want to thank a customer who paid for their meal Friday night and left behind a touching note about their special needs son . A photo of the note has gone viral , shared with thousands of people on Facebook . England told CNN her family , including husband , Jason , 8-year-old son Riley , 4-year-old brother Logan , the boys ' grandmother and their great-grandmother were together at the Stag & Doe restaurant in China Grove , North Carolina , for a family meal when their special needs son , Riley , started to get frustrated . He was hungry and could n't get the Netflix on his mom 's phone to work . The waitress , the autistic girl and the broken hamburger . Since Riley suffers from epilepsy and is non-verbal , England said , it 's hard for him to communicate and he screams and acts out when he 's frustrated . England said he started to make screaming noises , beat on their table and threw her phone , catching the attention of some nearby customers . Although a few customers were looking , it was n't the worst experience her family has had out in public since Riley 's condition was diagnosed when he was a toddler , England said . But she was frustrated , she said , and in the past few weeks it has been really tough controlling Riley 's behavior . So what happened next was just what the family needed . Autism , dining out and a side of kindness . As their waitress was delivering food to the family 's table , England noticed another waitress , Tonya Griffin , walk up with a few tears in her eyes . She passed along a message from another customer that the England family says they will never forget . Griffin told the family , `` your meal 's been paid for and he wanted me to give you this note . '' The note written on a customer 's order slip read , `` God only gives special children to special people . '' England told CNN the gesture was really needed and it made her cry . `` I just broke down , the past month has just been so hard . '' She added , `` He just does n't know what we 've been going through and how much it was needed at the moment . '' When England updated her Facebook page about the family 's experience Friday night , she ended it with this message : `` Dear stranger , thank you for giving me a blessing tonight in a way you will never know . '' England says she will be back at the restaurant when it reopens Wednesday -- its hours are 4 to 10 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday -- in hopes she can find the man to thank him personally . Canadians paying the coffee forward -- by the hundreds .
Ashley England was having a difficult time with her special needs son at a restaurant . A stranger paid for their meal and left a note that touched her deeply . She wrote to the man, who responded by writing back saying he would be there in just a few minutes.