Touching Surprise For Widowed Pizza Shop Owner

A New Hampshire husband and wife small business owners, Yianni and Dee Dee, opened up their pizza parlor in 1991. The shop quickly became a hit with locals because of its delicious pies and friendly service.

Tragedy struck in 2012 when Yianni died at the age of 54, according to the Greenville Gazette. Dee Dee had no idea what she was going to do with her husband gone and found it difficult to manage the restaurant without him.

“My husband was the workforce. He’s the one who ran the restaurant,” said Dee Dee.

Everything in the shop reminded Dee Dee of her late husband and the fond memories that they shared. Eventually, Dee Dee managed to run the shop by herself, but her family and friends were still concerned.

“At first I couldn’t even come into here, I couldn’t walk in, it was difficult. I had a mortgage to pay, I had a business to run, I had people here that were depending on me. Now I had to learn how to do everything,” Dee Dee explained.

They contacted Eastern Bank without Dee Dee knowing and arranged to have her go on vacation for a week at a luxurious spa.  

While Dee Dee was getting pampered at the spa, her pizza parlor was getting the makeover she had always wanted, but did not have the funds for.

When Dee Dee came back, she was so amazed at how beautiful the shop was, that she cried tears of joy.

“It’s freaking beautiful!” Dee Dee exclaimed when she walked into the shop.

The entire process was filmed by Eastern Bank and shared on YouTube, garnering more than 2 million views.

One of Dee Dee’s reported relatives even commented on the video: “My auntie Deedee is the BEST! What an amazing gift and so deserved. We love you and miss you guys – Milto and Erin.”

“Wonderful. Proud to work here,” wrote a reported employee of the store.

However, not everyone was so easily touched by the video: “By all means, keep mentioning the Bank that made it ALL possible. God, I hate these virals.”

Someone else responded to the criticism with: “Well they brought lots of cameras and filmed it didn’t they? Do you think they would have done this without the assumed publicity? No, the bank forked over the cash for this because some marketing analyst calculated that the $50,000 or whatever they spent would bring them $150,000 in new business or something.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7O8036FWAO8

Sources: Greenville Gazette, Eastern Bank/YouTube / Photo credit: Newsiosity