This older man is being praised across the internet for his heartwarming display of kindness towards a mother who had her hands full last week.
Natasha Crittenden Wilson snapped a photo of the senior adoringly cradling a sleeping boy while his mother filled out paperwork in the waiting room of a doctor’s office in Florence, Alabama.
Since she published the photo, it has been shared over half a million times across social media.
Wilson had been sitting in the waiting room when the mother, Jade West, walked in with her 1-year-old son asleep on her shoulder. After the front desk attendant handed the mother a clipboard with the necessary paperwork, she seemed stumped on how to fill out the information with the boy in hand.
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“She goes to sit down, and you could just hear thinking, ‘Now how am I going to do this?’” Wilson told Inside Edition. “Just then, from across the room, an elderly man piped up, ‘Could I hold that baby for you?’ And the mother, beaming, replied ‘Yes, that would be amazing.’”
The man, who was later identified as Joe Hale, happily cradled the little boy while West filled out the paperwork unencumbered.
Touched by the sweet exchange, Wilson took a picture of them and posted it to Facebook.
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The gesture was particularly emotional for Wilson since she is the mother of seven biracial children of her own.
“Racism is still VERY real in our society today BUT THIS MAN GAVE ME HOPE and a sweet memory I’ll never forget!!” wrote Wilson.
(WATCH the Good Morning America coverage below)
Be Sure And Share This Sweet Story With Your Friends On Social Media – Photo by Natasha Crittenden Wilson