Community is more than just a group of people who live near each other and share a street or zip code. It's a mindset that unites persons from all walks of life -- including families -- in the most incredible way. With her husband deployed to Syria, mom Barbara Kelly was surprised when her 5-year-old son and their neighbor developed an unforeseen bond, proving it really does take a village to raise a child.
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"[Brian] loves to do garden work," the Illinois mom revealed in her interview.
And the 5-year-old has no problem going to his neighbor's house on the daily to help. "Everywhere [Cravens] turns around there's Brian," she added. "They just developed a friendship and bond."
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"The fact that he started to cling on to my dad is just the sweetest thing," Molly Cravens told BuzzFeed News. "We love having Brian around and love seeing how happy they make each other."
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"It was very, very sweet," mom Barbara Kelly told BuzzFeed News. "[Cravens] really thinks and tries to make him feel good. It just means that much more that his father's gone."
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"God Bless the surrogate father, neighbor. What a big heart great role model," one commenter tweeted to Molly. "My eyes are sweating," joked another.
Touched by all the love her photos on Twitter received, Cravens's daughter Molly says she appreciates Brian's dad and all the parents who leave their family's side to protect our country. "I wanted to show what Brian's dad and many other brave parents sacrifice for our country," she told BuzzFeed News.
The bond between Brian and Cravens is beyond heartwarming and shows simple acts of kindness really can make a world of difference to a family.
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