As social-distancing has given way to stay-at-home orders, quarantining has also proven to be a struggle for students who haven’t seen their classmates in weeks.
That was the case of Samson and Kaiden, two second-graders who admittedly have missed their typical school structure, and each other.
What happened next was captured in a ring doorbell video, in which dozens of people hit “like” when it was posted on Twitter by Danielle Davis, Kaiden’s mother.
“So my son’s friend rang the doorbell to surprise him with a letter explaining how much he has learned over the past week,” Davis wrote. He rang the bell and ran back to make sure he was six-feet away.”
Kristen Nichols, Samson’s mother, explained that she and her son were doing some schoolwork. She said the English assignment for the day was writing letters.
“I asked who [Samson] would like to write one to, and of course, he mentioned his pal Kaiden,” Nichols said.
“We came up with the idea together. We thought about putting it in the mail, but decided to make the long trek – about a half of a mile – to Kaiden’s house so he could maybe see his friend’s face after we left it on the porch for him,” Nichols continued.
“We all waited in the car and I reminded Sam to knock on the door but then run back to the car,” she said.
For Kaiden, his mother said, “It had been pretty drab not being able to go to school and see his friends. After receiving Samson’s letter Kaiden wanted to go online and look up the animals that Samson wrote about. This prompted my son to look up a tarantula hawk on Google.
The ordinarily shy 7-year-old, Kaiden who enjoys being with friends and laughing, proudly posed for a photo with the letter he received from Samson.
“Samson is one of Kaiden’s best buddies,” Davis said.
For Samson, also 7, he was determined to make the most of a cloudy day. “I could tell it lifted Samson’s spirits to get to see his friend and do something to make someone else’s day better,” Nichols stated.
The two met a year ago in first grade, and while they were placed in separate classes this year, Kaiden and Samson were still able to see each other regularly at school.
“Whenever I asked Samson who he would like to see, or what the highlight of his day was, he always mentioned seeing Kaiden at recess,” Nichols said.
“Sam says that Kaiden is a truly kind friend, and I can tell that Samson appreciates Kaiden always being kind and thoughtful in a world where not everyone is kind,” she said.
Davis said Samson’s kind gesture helped to not only brighten Kaiden’s day but hers as well.
“For me, it made my day to see Kaiden so happy to receive a letter,” Davis said.
“It also reminded me that in dark times, there is always light. I appreciated it so much and was thankful for Samson’s mom to assist him with the delivery.”