After moving to Texas from the East Coast, a family “adopted” a neighborhood senior who jumped in to welcome them.
Sharaine Caraballo and her husband Wilson met 82-year-old Paul Callahan in March last year when Wilson began working on their recently purchased home and he offered him a ladder to work with.
From then on, it didn’t take very long for the family of eight and their new neighbor to become close and for Paul to take on the role of de-facto grandpa.
A retired Texas Instruments manager, Paul’s wife sadly passed away six months before the family moved into the neighborhood and Sharaine thinks her family provided an important refuge for Paul.
“One of my biggest fears was meeting our new neighbors. I was wondering who they were going to be and what they were going to be like,” said Sharaine, who is originally from Pawtucket, New England. “When Paul welcomed us into the neighborhood I knew I had made the right choice.”
The Caraballos and Paul now see each other every other day, inviting him to all family cookouts. They spend every holiday together, and this Father’s Day Paul received a new outfit from the family as a present.
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Sharaine and Wilson were really apprehensive when they moved into the new neighborhood but Paul’s warm welcome really helped put them at ease, offering the new homeowners advice and help with all kinds of issues they were facing with their new home.
“He was coming over with tools. He’d bring screwdrivers and teach Wilson how to fix up the garage and Wilson followed all his advice,” explained Sharaine. “He’s always coming over with little trinkets for the kids. They play with him a lot and call him Uncle Paul. He’s got stories for days.”
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Sharaine’s kids love Paul as much as she does and the elderly man makes great efforts to make them feel at home too. As much as Paul has helped the family, Sharaine thinks her family played an important role in the months that followed the passing of Paul’s wife.
“I asked what drew him to us and he said he was a very social person and that he grew up around lots of kids,” she said. “‘That’s how I grew up, my house was always where everybody hung out.’ He’s also the last of his siblings, who have all passed away.”
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