A little boy’s daily habit of waving and saying hello brought a dozen strangers together and turned them into close friends in a North Carolina neighborhood.
We know how people are focused on themselves these days. People living right next door to each other don’t even know each other’s names anymore.
A smile or a simple hello has become a forgotten thing in many neighborhoods. That’s just how we adults are these days. But kids are often better than us at this. They make connections faster than most grown-ups do.
In this story, a four-year-old boy is bringing his neighborhood together in a heartwarming way.
Roman Butzlaff is four years old and lives in Concord, North Carolina. If you walk past his house, he will wave at you and say “hey.” His mother, Anna Butzlaff, told CBS News, “He wakes up every day excited to say ‘hi’ to somebody, like, that’s the first thing he wants to do.”
But Roman was dealing with something hard at home. About a year ago his parents split up. His dad moved to Florida and his grandparents lived far away too.
So even though he seemed happy on the outside, he was lonely on the inside.
Things started to change when a neighbor named Wade Fulgum noticed the boy who always waved at him. Wade walked over one day to meet Roman, and the two started spending time together.
Other neighbors saw this and joined in too. Some just stopped to talk. Others got involved in things like drag racing down the street for fun.
Anna said it felt strange at first because she didn’t know most of these people. “I didn’t really know how to take it. I just saw that my son was happy,” she said.
Roman started inviting his new neighbor friends to his soccer games, his basketball games and his baseball games. They came to his swimming lessons. They even showed up for his preschool open house.
When his birthday came around, his mom knew exactly who needed to be there. She invited his senior citizen neighbor friends, and they came. “He loves having us there, and he’ll run up and hug us,” one neighbor said. Another neighbor added, “They’ve made such an impact on him. They are really special people to him.”
Today Roman’s refrigerator is covered in pictures of all these neighbors. His mom says his loneliness is gone now.
Loving our neighbors is one of the most important commands we are all familiar with. But how do we actually do that?
We don’t need to do anything grand to show someone they matter. We can see how Roman just lived out that command in the simplest way with a wave.
We can do the same thing in our own neighborhoods too. Like Roman, there may be someone, or many, who are struggling with loneliness or going through pain.
It might just be your simple greeting or a smile that makes them feel loved. Let us ask God to prepare our hearts to show His love to our neighbors.
WATCH: 4-Year-Old’s Daily Wave Is Bringing His Whole Neighborhood Together
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