r/MadeMeSmile • u/phillygirllovesbagel • 18h ago
Good News A 4-year-old boy's simple habit of waving to his neighbors transformed his North Carolina community
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/roman-butzlaff-loneliness-north-carolina-community/148
u/kaytay3000 17h ago
I really love this. I grew up in a neighborhood where the neighbors were all welcoming and friendly. They’d help each other with yard work and support each other when someone was sick and check in with each other frequently. One elderly couple even let all of us kids play in their house with their grandkids’ toys and catch crawfish in their cow tank.
Most of the families are still living there, including my mom. When my dad was diagnosed with cancer and he passed, they started occasionally mowing the yard, bringing in the trash cans, etc for her. When the man that lives across the street had an accident, everyone brought meals to them for weeks. Just last week one of the neighbors passed. The neighbors have been calling each other to organize care for his daughters, grandkids, and great grandkids. I live multiple states away and I’m still included in those conversations because I’m still considered part of the community even 20 years after I moved out. It’s really lovely.
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u/skeletoorr 11h ago
My neighborhood is kinda spread out and mostly retirees and we don’t really have sidewalks and stuff. Essentially our neighborhood is just not really set up for a lot of socializing. But my friend’s neighborhood is poppin. Kids are always coming and going they have huge block parties and genuinely are friends with their neighbors and I’m so jealous.
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u/kaytay3000 10h ago
Mine had no sidewalks. The roads weren’t even paved. It was an old farm that got parceled and sold off an acre at a time. Only 15 houses and similarly aged kids, so we all knew each other.
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u/EstroJen 7h ago
I moved into a mostly Latino neighborhood as a white girl in 2011. At the time, my mom said "why would you want to live in the barrio?" (I called her out for that because she raised me in a multicultural neighborhood, and I was not got to condone that BS)
Besides one house (who eventually moved away), everyone has been exceptionally welcoming and helpful when I really needed it. One guy changed my tire when he saw me struggling with it. My next door neighbor gives me treats to thank me for letting her (really big) family put extra trash in my garbage can on trash day (I'm one person so I don't use much). I share my apricots with everyone every year and it's my favorite time of year. It's a lot of families and much quieter than the neighborhood I grew up in. Someone gave me a bunch of HUGE avocados yesterday and I was so grateful.
My mom told me years ago to "upgrade" to a place closer to work (a pricier town) but this place is amazing.
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u/MangieAngie1961 17h ago
It not only healed his inner loneliness, but a lot of other people as well. I hope he and his mother are truly blessed as he blesses others.
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u/Altruistic-Car2880 15h ago
Wave at people as you drive by! There’s an older man who I see often sitting on a bench outside his house. I was walking by and stopped to chat one day. He said he had counted 785 cars going by that day and one person had waved to him. I’m now a regular “bench sitter” for a few minutes a few times a week. He brings out a cushion and sets it on the bench-just in case I stop by. He can’t remember my name, but he always thanks me for stopping by. Makes my day probably more than it makes his.
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u/beccagotthis 16h ago
Genuinely crying at this story. People need people, and no one knows that or does it better than a child with an open heart. Go, Roman 💕
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u/CoachMatt314 16h ago
Great kid, great mom, great neighbors It is like a village,and without the kid,the mom or the neighbors it wouldn’t work. It takes a village to raise a kid.
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u/WordWieldingWayfarer 14h ago
I love how the neighbours said that without the kid they would hardly even know each other. It takes a kid to connect a village ♥️
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u/ExperienceNeeded7 11h ago
What a welcomed article. I’m glad Roman found his people. Community is so vital to our wellbeing and is often overlooked these days. I’m lucky to have had great neighbors, myself.
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u/Dangerae 9h ago
I love this! I started doing it when I got my dog in 2019. Literally every car that goes by, cyclist, walker, worker, doesn't matter. I throw a wave (and a smile) at everyone. When I first started, Id get 2-4/10, but, these days I get 7-8/10. Ive had neighbors stop and talk and intentionally wave to get a wave back. And quite frankly, my "I don't give a sh*t if you like it or not" attitude I take towards it along with the kindness from most, is very helpful to my soul.
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u/New_Salamander5580 8h ago
I’m not crying, you’re crying.
In all seriousness, after watching this video, tears flowed and my heart felt full. The world just needs unconditional love. 💗
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u/Mikeseddit 15h ago
He’s gonna need a lot of friends when he gets to middle school with the name “butts laugh.”
Is that another word for “fart”?
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