Moving into a new neighborhood can be an exciting experience. But it can also be pretty daunting. After all, you can pick the house but you can’t pick your neighbors.
Last month, Kelly McDuff and her fiancé Garrison bought their first home in Richardson, Texas.
Understandably she was feeling “a little nervous” about the move. Not only was it in an unfamiliar area, but it was in a completely new town.
Turns out, she needn’t have worried. Because when it comes to neighbors? She hit the jackpot.
An Unexpected Visitor
Two weeks after moving in, Kelly had just gotten home when her doorbell rang. She opened the front door and was shocked to find her 98-year-old neighbor standing on the step, holding a beautiful chocolate cake and a handwritten note.
He had come to welcome her to the neighborhood.
She was so moved by her elderly neighbor’s sweet gesture, she posted a video about it on TikTok, simply captioning it, “I love it here.”
The clip is short and “sweet,” only 11 seconds long. But whew, it packs a punch.
The video opens with Kelly, 27, on the verge of tears, her hand over her mouth, and a text overlay that reads:
“We just moved into a house and my 98-year-old neighbor just dropped off a cake to welcome us to the neighborhood.”
She then shows the elderly gentleman slowly hobbling back to his house before panning the camera to the chocolate bundt cake drizzled in vanilla icing.
“He’s lived here for 52 years and ‘hopes we love it as much as he has,”” she writes.
More than 14 MILLION people have viewed the man’s touching gesture and almost all of us are thinking the same thing, “Man, they don’t make neighbors like this anymore. Also, invite this man to dinner!”
“This is what neighbors used to do for each other, that was normal.”
“The walk 🥹🥹🥹 I would’ve criiiiiiied.”
“Please make sure you invite him over for dinner! That would make his whole life! 💗”
“This is the side of tiktok I adore. We’re gonna need updates on this budding friendship. ❤️”
Spreading the Love
The following day, Kelly returned the favor. She baked him a lemon meringue pie and hand-delivered it along with her own note containing her contact information so they could stay in touch.
“I’m excited to go see him again and get to know him more,” she said before taking it over.
The man, who lives with his stepdaughter, was thrilled to see her.
“Bless your sweet heart,” he told her when she explained why she was there.
“I love lemon pie. You didn’t have to do that, but I’m just delighted you did.”
Once she was back home, Kelly shared how much the interaction had impacted her. “I have no words. I am on cloud nine and will be recovering the rest of the week.”
And now? Kelly’s making a habit of paying it forward and spreading the neighborly love.
In a subsequent TikTok, she revealed that she was taking flowers to her 86-year-old next-door neighbor who was recently widowed.
“She gave us her contact information the other day with her kids’ information on it and her hobbies which are golf and dance. So cute,” Kelly shared on the video.
The Importance of Social Connection
It’s no secret that social connectedness is vital to our overall health and well-being. Numerous studies and decades of research prove that people who are socially connected live longer, healthier, happier lives.
And yet, according to a survey done in 2018 by the Pew Research Center, only 24% of Americans know all or most of their neighbors.
Kelly hopes that by sharing her own sweet experience it will inspire others to reach out to their neighbors.
“Go meet your neighbor. Go knock on their door, bring them some cookies. Everybody loves cookies.”
Kelly McDuff via TikTok
You never know — it might just lead to a lifelong friendship and a healthier, happier community AND you.
