‘I just saw my son was happy’: a mom’s unexpected lesson in community

Anna Butzlaff admits she didn’t know what to make of it at first. Her four-year-old son, Roman, had started waving and saying hello to every single person who walked past their home in Concord, North Carolina, and neighbours were beginning to take notice, and take him up on it.

‘I didn’t really know how to take it. I just saw that my son was happy,’ she told CBS News. The habit began about a year ago, during a hard stretch for the family: Roman’s parents had split up, his father moved to Florida, and his grandparents already lived out of state, leaving the toddler feeling lonely.

Instead of retreating, Roman greeted every passer-by like an old friend. Neighbour Wade Fulgum eventually walked over to introduce himself after noticing the constant waving, and others soon followed, showing up for chats that turned into hangouts, and eventually impromptu drag races down the street.

Roman began inviting neighbours to his football, basketball and baseball games, and they came to his swimming lessons and pre-school open house too. When his birthday arrived, his guest list was made up entirely of his senior-citizen neighbour friends.

‘They’ve made such an impact on him. They are really special people to him,’ Anna said. The family’s refrigerator is now covered in photos of the neighbours Roman brought into their lives.

Image: Wikimedia Commons/by Pink Sherbet Photography