The 4-year-old who built a community
Roman is 4 years old and lives in Concord, North Carolina. After his parents divorced and his dad moved away — with his grandparents living out of state — his mom, Anna, watched loneliness settle over him. But Roman built up a ritual for himself; every morning he stood at the door and waved at everyone who passed by. The garbage collector. The delivery driver. Neighbors his mom had never met.
And the neighbors started waving back.
It began with Wade Folger, a retired man next door, who came over to talk and started inviting Roman to do things. One by one, others followed. Now, the whole neighborhood routinely shows up for him — they cheer him on at his swim meets, his preschool open house, and celebrate with him as guests at his birthday party. Most of those neighbors had never known each other, either. Today they wave at each other too. As one of them put it in Steve Hartman’s CBS “On the Road” segment: “Look at what this little kid has built.”
We talk a lot in this community about how it takes a village to raise a child. Roman reminds us the village doesn’t always exist yet. Sometimes somebody has to be bold enough to wave first, and others respond. Hope this story inspires you to take a chance to step out of your comfort zone to greet a neighborhood and encourage another. You may find yourself building a village of your own.
The old made new
For over 30 years, Rachid Lazraq has run Rich Collection Italia, a vintage Italian shoe shop in East London. Online shopping and an aging clientele had pushed it to the edge — the “Closing Sale” sign was already up. Then his 25-year-old daughter Zineb posted a video about a pair of Y2K kitten heels from his shelves. It hit 300,000 views overnight. Within days, the line outside stretched two hours long, and Rachid tore down that closing sign while customers applauded.
Thirty years of a father’s work, amplified by his daughter’s new vision and boldness. The story really inspired us to keep cheering you on. Whatever you’re working on, wherever you may be right now, keep going! Let others join in and help you reach new bounds!
Be part of the Parenthood Together community.
Both of these stories started with one small, almost too simple an act. Neither Roman nor Zineb fixed everything. They each made the first step to reach out, and people took action to build support around them.
That’s kind of our whole thing at Parenthood Together. We’re not here to fix every matter in your parenting journey. We’re just here to help facilitate so you can have a place to turn to for connection, resources, and a village that cares. Take the first step and come say hello at the Parenthood Together community: facebook.com/groups/parenthoodtogether.