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'I Will Never Forget It': Delaware Mother, Daughter Receive Sweet Surprise In Memory Of Life Gone Too Soon

GLEN MILLS, Pa. (CBS) -- Two families are now connected forever. A mother and daughter received a sweet surprise at a Wegmans in Glen Mills, all in memory of a life gone too soon.

A cupcake and a card can change us forever.

"It's something I will carry with me for the rest of my life," Deborah Cuoco said.

Cuoco's daughter Alexandra celebrated her 18th birthday on Aug. 30.

Two days before, Alexandra and Deborah picked up cupcakes for the occasion at a Glen Mills Wegmans when an employee approached them.

"This has been paid for and I looked at her and said, 'I think there's a mistake,'" Deborah said. "She said, 'No, I don't think you understand. Somebody bought these for you.'"

Deborah was handed a card, containing a single paragraph.

"Dear birthday family, we purchased this cake in honor of our daughter Lillian on her first heavenly birthday," Deborah read.

glen mills birthday letter
Credit: CBS3

"We wish you a very happy birthday and a wonderful year," Alexandra read.

The letter was signed, "the M family."

The "M" family has wished to stay anonymous.

So that night, surrounded by friends, Alexandra commemorated the life of a girl she's never met.

"I wish I could say thank you or give the mom a hug," Alexandra said. '"Happy birthday, Lillian."

"Why do you think you get so emotional when you think about what they've done?" CBS3's Dan Koob asked.

"It will have a ripple effect for the rest of my life. I will never forget it. It was the purest form of love," Deborah said.

Two families that have never met -- one torn with grief, another about to celebrate the beginning of adulthood --  are forever linked by a cupcake and a card.

"I intend to go on Aug. 27, 2021, walk into a store with a prepared note explaining Lillian's story, and that we want to pay it forward," Deborah said.

Deborah says the "M" family is now forever linked to her family's story and the most difficult aspect of all of this is that she can't say thank you. But she hopes this will suffice.

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