Students Surprise Old Woman Who Waved to Them Every Day for 12 Years on Way to School
Never underestimate the power of a simple wave and a kind hello. The impact you make could reach farther than you realize.
For British Columbia resident Tinney Davidson, a wave from her window grew to be the highlight of the morning for students walking to Highland Secondary School.
Every morning, Tinney Davidson would wave to students headed to high school in Comox, British Columbia. Before she moved out to an assisted living facility, they thanked her for years of kindness. https://t.co/G0c375RXET
— WGN TV News (@WGNNews) May 12, 2019
Davidson first moved to the area in 2007 with her husband. Ever since then, the now 88-year-old has made it her routine to wave to each student who passes her window.
“I just liked the look of the children and they all looked in and I thought, ‘If they’re looking in, I’ll wave to them,’ and that’s how it started,” she told CBC in a 2014 interview.
Sadly, Davidson’s husband Ken passed away that year, according to a video interview. But even in her grief, Davidson kept her smile and joy as she sat by her window each morning.
In 2016, Davidson was honored on Valentine’s Day with cookies and cards at her doorstep. “I was shocked,” she shared with CBC at the time.
“They kept coming and coming and I just could not believe what I was seeing,” she went on. More than a decade has passed since Davidson started her window waving tradition.
Now, she’s moving to an assisted living facility, and the students are saddened their favorite elderly resident won’t be there to start their morning off right.
They knew they couldn’t let Mrs. Davidson go without a proper send-off. On April 25, 2019, over 400 students walked to her house to say goodbye.
The students crowded the sidewalk and street and even Davidson’s lawn. They held signs that said things like “We Love You” and “Thanks 4 Being Awesome.”
“I was shocked again that’s there’s so many kids that want to say goodbye to me,” she told CBC. Clearly her morning hello meant more to them than she knew.
This story only shows that perhaps the generation gap isn’t as wide as it seems, and that sometimes all it takes is a small act of kindness to build a bridge between young and old alike.
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