Toddler and WWII Vet Are Best Friends, Will Melt Your Heart Into Goo

Emmett (toddler) and Erling (WWII Vet) bonded over a tomato patch. Now they’re best friends who ride bikes, play croquet (omgomgomg), and race mowers. This is probably going to turn into a TV movie and I will watch it and cry every time I have a bad day. (Which is most days because I am a grumpy and disagreeable person.)

The unlikely friendship started when Emmett noticed Erling outside. Soon her was racing over to talk to Erling and the 89-year-old was delighted by the attention. Now the two are inseparable. Even snow couldn’t keep them apart. Emmett’s mom Anika Rychner was worried that winter would keep the two apart, but she shouldn’t have doubted Erling’s commitment:

“I was in the kitchen and I heard the snow blower going, sounds like Erling is really close to the house,” she recalls. “I opened the window and he was snow blowing a path from his back door to our back door.”

Erling has been a great friend to Emmett (his parents are both impressed with Erling’s unending well of patience), but the two will soon part. The Rychners are moving to a bigger house and Erling, who is about to hit 90, is about to relocate to an assisted-living community. But that’s not for a few months yet. Until then, the two will spend as much time as they can together.