Many of us have fond memories connected to food, especially pizza! Do you think of childhood birthday parties? Late night study sessions in school? Or maybe family nights with the kiddos. For the Morgan family, a few pizzas and a little love helped to make a heartbreaking time into a heartwarming moment.
Julie and Richard Morgan were in bed resting when pizza showed up shortly after 2am. Dalton Shaffer, a young man with freckles and rosy cheeks, came from Battle Creek, Michigan to drop off the meal.
Richard was ill and in his last days at home. Family members stayed up to receive the special slices. They thanked him and offered to pay for overnight accommodations. He was appreciative but decided to head back home.
Steve’s Pizza was the restaurant of choice that evening, as it was very meaningful to Julie and Richard. The couple moved from their pizza loving neighborhood to Indianapolis twenty-five ago. Many pizzas later, Richard claimed it was still the best.
Julie posted about the couple’s history with the company. “We were young and money was tight but every payday, Rich would pick up Steve’s Pizza for dinner.”
“I can’t possibly describe how delicious this pizza is — but several moves and all these years later, it is still the gold standard and we’ve never found a better pizza yet. Rich has frequently critiqued other pizza as ‘good but, it’s no Steve’s.'”
The surprise was initiated by Julie’s father. He reached out to Steve’s Pizza in hopes of getting a touching message from them, a place very dear to the couples. Shaffer received the call and decided to do better than that.
“I happened to be the pizza-maker that night and happened to answer the phone later in the evening,” he said to TODAY Food. “On the other end of the line was Dave, Julie’s dad. He was telling me about what was going on with his family. He told me that his son-in-law had been sent home to die.”
Dalton, 18, insisted he would deliver pizzas to them after finishing work. He also asked what they like on their pizzas.
“I really didn’t think twice about it. It was a spontaneous reaction from me I guess. When I rolled into the driveway at about 2:30, 2:40, the family was waiting up for me. The dad was there, and he came out and he gave me a hug,” Shaffer said in an interview.
After the drop-off, Dalton went back to Indianapolis to get some rest before having to be at work early the next day at another job.
“I just would like anybody reading or whatever to just think of the family,” the young man shared. “Ya know, pray for them. They’re going to be going through a hard time.”
Julie posted, “I am past overpowered and lowered by this demonstration of bona fide benevolence. Dalton brought our family so much satisfaction — and the best pizza on the planet — at an extremely troublesome time.”
“While ‘thank you’ hardly seems adequate — from the bottom of my heart, thank you, Dalton, from Steve’s Pizza in Battle Creek, MI for making your epic middle of the night pizza delivery!”
