Anonymous Couple Pays for Los Gatos Teens' Dinner at Viva Restaurant

On Saturday, Nov. 2 these 10 Los Gatos High School freshmen went to dinner at Viva Restaurant, 15970 Los Gatos Blvd., before coronation during homecoming week.

When they finished their meal they were told that their food was paid for by an anonymous couple at the restaurant, said Los Gatos resident Rene Rylander, whose son was one of the recipients of the generous kind act.

"We would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge their generosity," Rylander said in a post on the Los Gatos Patch Facebook page. "It was an incredible act of kindness that will not be forgotten. We will pay it forward! Thank you so much!"

The youth had gone out to eat to celebrate Homecoming, which consisted of the highly anticipated Nov. 1 football game against the Adrian Wilcox High School Chargers at Helm Field followed the next day by their festivities on campus.

The bill, according to Rylander, was probably around $300. She said a friendly waiter told the kids the good news when he came to the table after they had completed their meals.

"The kids said, 'We need the bill.' And he said, 'It's been taken care of,' " Rylander said.

The youth were dining at the restaurant alone, Rylander said. "I guess they must have been behaving themselves because somebody volunteered to pay for them."

Rylander said the teens had received money from their parents to pay for their dinners that evening and were pleasantly surprised by the kind gesture.

"I've never heard of something like this happening before [in town]" Rylander said. "They said it was an older couple so I'm just thinking they ... thought that the kids had worked hard to save money to pay for their dates ... maybe they just wanted to help them out."

Never the recipient of such generosity, Rylander said she and her husband are now determined to do the same thing one day for another group. "My husband said, 'That's such a neat thing to do ... you know I'm going to do that someday when I see a group of kids.' It's kind of like a pay it forward reaction."

The Rylanders have lived in Los Gatos for 25 years and have two children, with just the LGHS freshman remaining at home. He's 15 years old.


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