In 2013, Sarah Hoidahl’s life was complicated.

She was a single mom, living with her mother and son Ashton in Henniker, making ends meet by waiting tables at Concord’s Ruby Tuesday out on Loudon Road.

Her life was briefly turned upside down after she picked up the tab for two National Guardswomen on furlough. Her $27.75 act of generosity led to an appearance on the Ellen Degeneres Show, $10,000 and a new car.

Life is still complicated, especially now that the place where she made her money and five minutes of fame has closed.

“It’s really weird,” she said. “I spent almost eight years working there; it’s weird to think it wasn’t going to be there anymore.”

The Concord restaurant was officially closed down on Monday. News reports show the chain has been closing locations across the country; Nashua and Portsmouth locations have shuttered within the last two years.

Throughout years of life changes, Ruby Tuesday has been a constant for Hoidahl.

She met her “better half,” Dalton Morris, there while he was a cook a year and a half ago. The two are in the process of moving to Sanbornton together and are expecting a child.

But it was a small act of generosity on a fall afternoon six years ago that made headlines.

Hoidahl was working a lunch shift when National Guardswomen furloughed by a government shutdown came in. They said they had to keep their order light, going with the salad bar, the buffalo chicken minis and grilled chicken. The tab came to $27.75.

Their plight touched Hoidahl, who had troubles of her own. Her mother had recently lost her job as a home hospice nurse, forcing their move from their Concord home to Henniker. Mother and daughter were busy raising Ashton, a bright-eyed boy of 16 months.

As the Guardswomens’ meal came to an end, Hoidahl slipped them a note instead of the bill.

“Thanks to the gov. shutdown the people like you that protect this country are not getting paid. However I still am. Lunch is on me! Thank you for serving ladies! Have a good day!”

Hoidahl’s manager told his mother, who posted about her good deed on Facebook. Local news jumped on the story – and then talk-show host Ellen Degeneres got involved.

“Two days after the deed, my dad called,” Hoidahl said in November 2013, according to Monitor archives. “He told me the Ellen show called me and wanted to talk to me. Are you kidding?”

Ellen flew Hoidahl out and repaid her the $27.75 – along with a dinner-table sized check for $10,000, a 50-inch television and a new car.

Hoidahl’s life wasn’t the same. “Afterwards, it was pretty chaotic,” she said. “I had people coming in just to see me at work. People were sending in letters from all over the country.”

It wasn’t uncommon for Hoidahl to walk in and get a handful of envelopes filled with thank-you notes and cash. It took a long time for things to calm down, but her coworkers never forgot.

“(They) still loved to harass me about it,” she said. “Anytime we got a new employee, they’d mention it. They know I love to tell the story. ... Every now and then people will ask if the girl from Ellen still works here.”

Hoidahl’s left Ruby’s a few times. Once was to pursue another career, and once to try out a new restaurant. Each time, the sense of family she felt with her coworkers brought her back.

“I was always close to my coworkers, some of whom I worked with until Ruby’s closed,” she said. “They were understanding. As a single mother, my life could be chaotic, and they understood that.”

She returned just a few months ago after finding out she was pregnant, working one day a week.

Even now, Hoidahl said her Ruby’s crew is looking out for her. After she posted on social media about the closing, former coworkers reached out with job suggestions and best wishes.

“It was such a big part of my life, it’s so shocking and unfortunate,” she said. “But I just want to wish my Ruby family the best, and thank them for these last eight years.”

(Caitlin Andrews can be reached at 369-3309, candrews@cmonitor.com or on Twitter at @ActualCAndrews.)]]>