Every morning at 6 am, Wilma gets up to make herself a coffee and sit on her porch. The elderly grandmother has lived in the same house for 38 years, and refuses to move.
Despite her best efforts, her granddaughter Darrien Middleton cannot visit as much as she wishes she could. Wilma is battling breast cancer, just 6 months after beating lung cancer.
"She loves her home," Darrien told Love What Matters. "Her independence, her yard, and especially her neighbours."
And her neighbours love her back, they check in on her several times a day and help get her to and from chemotherapy appointments. But there's one particular neighbour that has stolen Wilma's heart- seven-year-old Caleb.
"The first time Nana and Caleb ever interacted was over an extra plate of food Nana had made and given to him. You would have thought Nana had given him a $100 bill. He was so grateful and thankful for a steak dinner."
Caleb lives with his grandmother and two brothers, and while they struggle with money, he is raised with kindness.
"Almost every time I think about his story and his heart, I want to tear up. My nana is so attached to him and the bond they have is incredible.
"He doesn't come from much, but you can tell he has been raised on love. He will bust out a dance move in a heartbeat, will go on and on about how much he loves school, and make you laugh until you cry.
"This kid deserves the love he has received from this post. He stands out from the norm and brings so much joy into everyone’s life he is around. I am so thankful for him and the love he has shown my grandmother. I know for certain it has helped her on her hardest days.
"He will never know how much I truly appreciate him. I hope one day he realises the impact he has left on her life and mine as well."
For Darrien the special bound that Caleb has with her grandmother is something that they both cherish.
"Although all we hear about in the world today is hate and pain, know that in the small town of Jackson, Tennessee, sitting on the porch, Caleb and Nana chose love. Age doesn't matter, gender doesn't matter, race doesn't matter, they chose to love each other despite what everyone else is doing around them.”
We're not crying, you're crying!
