Tonee “Valentine” Carter was only six years old when his father took him to a Ray Charles concert. It was right then and there that little Tonee knew what he wanted to be growing up.

Tonee is obsessed with the piano and his passion for playing is second to none.

The 66-year-old Carter performs for international audiences almost every day at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. He may not be as famous as he should be, but everyone in that airport loves him.

“Once its in your heart, it’s in you and it ain’t going nowhere.”

Tonee said.

Imagine just arriving from a long flight, or having the jitters before your flight. Well, Carter’s there to soothe those nerves with his fantastic melodies and mesmerizing music.

Carlos Whittaker is a motivational speaker who was traveling home to Tennessee on a Wednesday morning after his speaking engagement was canceled. It was fate.

Whittaker was dejected that his plans weren’t pushing through but when he heard someone playing the piano, he just knew he had to check it out.

Now Carlos is an author, podcaster, and Instagram influencer. He sat at the piano bar in Concourse A for about an hour and a half just listening to Tonee play the piano.

He took videos of Carter and shared them with his “InstaFamilia,” which includes over 200,000 followers.

Carlo and Tonee began talking, sharing stories of their lives and everything in between. When Tonee went back to play, Whittaker had a brilliant idea. He asked his Instagram followers to give Tonee the biggest tip ever!

https://www.instagram.com/p/CRmO5UEFTdn/

Within 30 minutes, he had raised $10,000!

Carlos captured the moment on Instagram where he told Tonee that a bunch of strangers had raised a huge amount of money for him.

“I just lost it. I thought he was kidding, I just couldn’t believe it. That just doesn’t happen,” Tonee told CNN. “I didn’t know how to feel. This is the kind of the thing I do. I love giving and donating and helping people, but I never expected someone to do it for me.”

Carlos was about to board his plane, but not before he told his followers that they could continue tipping Tonee via Venmo and CashApp. Carlos said they had raised $61,000.

It was money Tonee needed. In 2008, he found out that he had kidney disease. He used to work on a cruise ship but now he plays to pay for treatments. His kidneys were functioning at just 10%.

“I have to do what I have to do to live. But I’m so happy, because when I’m not going through dialysis, I’m not going through heart problems, brain tumors or cancer. Maybe I don’t have working kidneys, but I get up and go to work everyday,” he said.

Tonee still loves life and playing the piano brings him joy.

“When I’m playing, I feel like the happiest man in the world,” he said. “The happiest person in the world. I am happiest playing piano and watching people respond to that happiness with theirs.”

Tonee is a good man. He chose to say thank you by paying it forward. He is donating to help the many others out there who need help. Carlos and Tonee have changed thousands of lives through the beauty of music.

Watch this amazing story below!

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Source: My Positive Outlooks, YouTube