Woman travels 900 miles to surprise grandma at her favorite lunch spot

By Jessica Hehir-Smith via SWNS

This is the heartwarming moment a woman surprised her 96-year-old grandma after she traveled over 900 miles - and pretended to be a waiter at her favorite lunch spot.

Shelby Hoefling, 31, organized the prank with family and restaurant staff, to catch Patricia Hoefling off guard.

She flew over 900 miles from Boiling Springs, Pennsylvania to Fort Pierce, Florida, and then snuck up to take unsuspecting Patricia's order.

Retired school teacher Patricia was caught completely unaware and was obviously confused as to how her granddaughter was there.

The pair had shared a video call just the day before where Shelby told her she wouldn't be able to see her for a couple of months.

Once the shock had worn off, Patricia grabbed her and gave her a big hug before saying how happy she was to see her best friend.

Patricia spends half of the year in Boiling Springs, Pennsylvania, and the other in Fort Pierce, Florida, and hadn't see her granddaughter for six months.

Shelby said: “When she’s in Pennsylvania, she’s only two hours away so I can drive to see her often. She’s my best friend.

“I always miss her so much when she goes to Florida. She usually leaves after Thanksgiving so I know I can’t see her all winter.

“She means so much to me so I wanted to go the extra mile and make her feel loved and important, so I planned this surprise!”

Shelby, who works in sales at a local retirement community, was nervous about the surprise and spent the journey from Virginia to Florida hoping her plan would go smoothly.

She said: “She’s so special that a regular visit wouldn’t do it and I wanted to make it really exciting.

“I was SO nervous that I might shock her so much that she’d have a heart attack - she was 96! As soon as I saw her confused face I had to make sure she was ok.

“I honestly expected her to be a little bit more thrilled and excited but I think the surprise just got to her - once I hugged her and told her about what I’d done, she was alright.”

This video was filmed in late January 2022. Patricia is now 97.