Aldon OโNeill Ward III is the Mr. Rogers of his neighborhood.
Heโs not only a good neighbor but a straight-up good person. And those arenโt as common as weโd like them to be.
Howโd he get this reputation? Through a hug.


Aldon tries to put a smile on peopleโs faces when they walk by his front yard. He can commonly be seen waving at passersby, and that included an elderly couple in the neighborhood.
But one day when he noticed the woman walking with tears in her eyes, and he knew in his gut that she needed more than a wave and a smile.
He didnโt even know her name, but that didnโt stop him from rushing out onto the street to give her a great big olโ bear hug.


It turns out his instincts were right.
โShe looked up at me through her large blinder style sunglasses and with a trembling voice said โI donโt have him anymore.โ My heart sank.โ


Aldon shared the story of the bittersweet encounter, which was captured by his homeโs security camera, on his Facebook page.
โSince 2011 Iโve seen an older couple walking the neighborhood every morning and evening. Matching windbreaker outfits, large white new balance sneakers and a stick in hand.โ
Every day the couple would wave at Aldon and then blow kisses at his excited dogs. Rain or shine, they were always in a good mood.
โAlways saying what a beautiful day it was even if they were walking in the rain without an umbrella. We never exchanged names but I knew where they lived and they knew where the boys and I lived.โ
It continued like that over the years, with the couple occasionally stopping by for a quick chat.


โIโm watering my freshly laid sod. Griswold, my standard poodle, is close by vigilantly protecting me from dragon flies and the occasional squirrel. A windbreaker suit swooshes slowly down the street below. Alone, the woman approaches. I wave, she waves. I exclaim in a joking manner, โwhereโs the better half?'โ
The woman, whose name Aldon still did not know, slowed down and began to shake her head. You know, the kind of ominous shake that people give you when the news isnโt good.
โShe looked up at me through her large blinder style sunglasses and with a trembling voice said โI donโt have him anymore.โ My heart sank.โ


Aldon acted on instinct and rushed into the street with tightness in his chest.
โโMaโam?โ I said, as I approached her. She turned and with tears streaming from behind here large sunglasses not another word was spoken, we hugged. Big hugged. Like she was my mom or my grandmother.โ
The woman was immediately comforted by the hug and sobbed into Aldonโs chest for a moment.
โIโm just trying do the things that we used to so I still feel like heโs aroundโฆ. I needed that.โ


Sometimes all you need is a heartfelt hug from a kind stranger to get through your day.
And sometimes we need to be reminded that the people walking by might be going through something we canโt even imagine. Thatโs why kindness should be the default.
Be sure to scroll down to watch the touching moment in the video below.
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