April DiDonna told a client that she loved him after he placed an order at Wendy’s drive-thru, where she works in Oak Harbor, Washington. Three months later, she said to thousands of people “I love you”.
“Knowing that the three little words can mean so much to so many people, is flooding my heart with a lot more love,” DiDonna told CNN. “I really believe that if we just loved each other, the world would be better.”
The love routine continued and DiDonna started counting how many people said “I love you” back. Some 2,700 customers have returned the message since it began counting on October 3, starting on the Friday before their shift.
Each time a customer completes an order, the assistant manager spreads his love message.
“I love you. You are loved. You are important. You make you. I love you,” she says. “That’s what I said.”
David Antis, senior vice president of operations for WTC Ventures, the company that operates the Wendy franchise, said he is proud of DiDonna for spreading a positive message.
“April is a valued member of the Wendy’s restaurant team in Oak Harbor, Washington. Her kindness and positivity inspire us all, and we are grateful for the joy she brings to our customers and the restaurant team,” he said.
Sometimes people get a little awkward when they hear your message through a drive-through speaker, DiDonna said.
“Sometimes people are not sure,” said the 35-year-old. “So I just kind of explain. If people can hate without reason, why can’t I love?”
Usually, people understand your point of view and many of them say “I love you too”, she said.
Her message can change someone’s day
Other times, the positive message changes a person’s day more than anyone could imagine, DiDonna said.
Once, an elderly woman asked to speak with the voice behind the message. When DiDonna went to the window, she saw the woman crying.
When DiDonna said he asked the woman if she was okay and what was wrong, the woman simply thanked him.
“Thank you for telling me that you loved me,” said DiDonna that the woman told her.
The client told DiDonna that her husband had died and his brother had recently died. “I have no one else to tell me that he loves me and there is no one there to give me a hug,” DiDonna told the woman.
DiDonna, a widow and mother of three boys, asked the woman to go to the store door. She asked if she could open the car door and then hugged the woman.
“When I gave this woman a hug, she simply melted in my arms and started to cry,” said DiDonna. “I told her that if she needed to be told that she loved to come back, I would give her a hug whenever she wanted to.”
DiDonna told the woman that her name was April and the woman said her name was Peggy.
Since hugging her on October 2, DiDonna has said that Peggy has returned to Wendy’s about five times. More hugs were shared.
She found the light after a time of darkness
There was a time, however, when DiDonna was in a dark place, she said. Her husband died in 2019 and her “life has been turned upside down,” she said.
“I was lost for a long time,” said DiDonna. “I was sad for a long time, but I am not. There is so much light and I will continue to shine brightly.”
Nowadays, DiDonna tries to share her message of love with strangers daily, whether at Wendy’s, when she is walking down the street or when she is in a store in the city, she said.
Nowadays, some customers tell DiDonna that they love her before they even place an order, she said.
“I love the people I see every day,” she said. “There is so much love now that I am overflowing from myself to others.”
For anyone who has been marked by the many misfortunes of 2020, DiDonna has a message of light.
“2021 will be a great year,” said DiDonna. “The universe is changing. Everything is aligning.”