Letty from El Tequila feeling the love from Milledgeville

Pictured above is Letty Short holding a baby, because Letty always is holding babies and babies love Letty. 

Perhaps no waiter or waitress around Milledgeville is more well-known and more memorable than Letty Short.

She is the little lady who's been hustling around El Tequila for years, taking care of customers, holding babies, cracking jokes and basically making sure that everybody is taken care of.

All of that hustling has eventually caught up to Short, however. Here lately she's been working with a bum knee that needs surgery. An El Tequila customer – Tasha Whidby Brett – learned of Short's ailment and decided to begin a GoFundMe page on Sunday. By Monday eventing, 39 different donors had already thrown in $4,075  towards Short's surgery, leaving her less than $1,000 away from her goal.

Short has been keeping up with the GoFundMe page, and it's got her feeling a little emotional.

"I am blessed, beyond blessed," said Short, who began getting teary-eyed during an interview with Baldiwn2K on Monday evening. "I never realized how many people around here cared about me. I knew that they liked me and that we were friends, but I never realized how many people cared so much about me and wanted what's best for me."

Short is a tough lady, literally "straight out of Compton," so when she shows emotion, you know that it's real. Short and her family grew up in the notorious Compton neighborhood in Los Angeles, and she says that it "obviously wasn't the nicest neighborhood." She started working when she was 12, taking odd jobs like cleaning and babysitting. Short had to drop out of high school in order to work two jobs to help out her single mother.

Her path eventually led her to Milledgeville, where she first worked for eight years at El Amigo and then the last 16 at El Tequila. That non-stop work ethic has helped Short, a single mother like her mother, raise two happy and healthy grown children. 

All the while, she's always managed to form a close bond with her customers. Babies and small children, for whatever reasons, cling to Short, and everybody has to get a hug from Letty. She says that it's especially heartwarming to see some of the customers who she held as babies now come into the restaurant with babies of the own.

Short's secret to bonding with customers– The Golden Rule.

"I just treat customers the way that I would want to be treated," she said.

If you want to "Show Letty Some Love," her GoFundMe page can be found HERE

According to the GoFundMe page:

If you live in Milledgeville, Georgia then you know Letty Short at El Tequila. She is the “Reina” (Queen) of Milly and Margaritas! We all love her and she takes care of us all. Now it’s time for us to help take care of her. She is scheduled to have knee surgery on March 11th and needs a little assistance in putting down her deposit. Please help us show her how much she means to us and pitch in a little to get her there. Every amount helps and will be much appreciated! She’s a big part of our community and we need to do our part to help her out! Please share and let’s get her taken care of!