A young man was standing at the grocery store checkout line when he noticed an elderly woman in front of him.  As she unloaded her grocery cart, she kept looking up and staring at him.  After a few awkward moments, he asked, “Why do you keep staring at me?”  

The woman said, “I'm sorry, but it's just that you look exactly like my son who recently died."

"I'm so sorry to hear that," the young man replied. "Is there anything I can do for you?"

"Yes," she said. “As I leave, if you would say, 'Goodbye, Mother' it would make me feel so much better because I need closure." 

"I’d be glad to do that for you," he answered.  

As the old woman was leaving, he called out, "Goodbye, Mother!"

After unloading his cart, the bill came to $147.50.

"How can that be?" he asked the clerk. "I only purchased a few items."

“Oh,” the clerk replied, "your mother said that you would pay for her."

Kent Crockett’s Sermon Illustrations, www.kentcrockett.com