Are there angels among us? We think an angel visited Aurelio's Homewood. We think "angels" have been roaming the United States this Holiday season. In fact, all across the country there have been accounts of good Samaritans or “layaway” angels paying off layaway balances in department stores everywhere. In fact, Kmart has reported that across its stores nationwide, the total of the balances paid off so far is $420,000.

Here's what happened at Aurelio's:

Right before Christmas, at Aurelio’s Homewood, we just may have encountered an angel. We have a group of hearing impaired individuals who dine at Aurelio’s Homewood monthly.  The group, which is usually 20-25 people, is coordinated by Joe Parisi. It’s a terrific group of loyal customers and we always do our best to make sure they have a wonderful time. At Christmas, traditionally the group is bigger. This year, it included 35 people.  As a Holiday tradition, Aurelio’s Homewood manager Tina gives complimentary items to her loyal customers. She was planning this for Mr. Parisi’s group, but someone beat her to the punch. Before she could comp anything, Mr. Parisi asked her as he was leaving if Joey Aurelio was the Secret Santa.  Puzzled, she asked what he meant. He explained that the server had come to the table after dinner saying an anonymous person picked up the entire bill for the group including the tip.  Later, Tina asked the server what happened.  She explained that another customer seated in the same area as the group asked to pay their bill and tip for the night and further asked to remain anonymous. We thought this was amazing as their bill was over $300.00.