Heartwarming Story: Neighbors Find Support in Each Other
Detroit — In a duplex on Detroit's west side, downstairs renter Colin McConnell said the new neighbors above him had been disrupting his peace below.
"I thought it was the Detroit Lions practicing up there some nights, you know?" McConnell told CBS News.
In actuality, it was 3 pee-wee running backs, sprinting back and forth across the hardwood.
The children belong to 33-year-old Donald Wilson. For months, McConnell knew nothing about him beyond what he could hear through the floorboards.
But when they finally met, McConnell said he picked up a whisper of something much more.
"You could just tell something was weighing on him," McConnell said. "So that's when I was kind of like, 'You good?' And he just kind of was like, 'Not really.'"
As McConnell discovered, Wilson had just lost Lakenya, the love of his life and mother of his children. She had died of a stroke in August at the age of 39. The two had been co-parenting, but living separately, when she died.
"Just not having that person here, you know what I mean?" Wilson told CBS News. "You know, I can't be like her."
Christmas Surprise for a Hardworking Father
Juggling the children and a full-time job with virtually no savings was overwhelming.
After hearing Wilson's story, McConnell decided to take action. He recorded a video and shared it on social media, asking for help for Wilson's family. The response was overwhelming. Within hours, boxes filled with gifts and essentials started arriving at McConnell's doorstep.
Everything Wilson and his children needed for Christmas and beyond was provided by strangers. Wilson expressed that the best gift of all was the fact that it came from people he had never met before.
"That was the best feeling, because it was random people that you don't expect," Wilson said. "That surprise joy, it was just amazing. I've never felt it before."
As Christmas approaches, McConnell eagerly awaits the sound of children's footsteps in his duplex. He knows that the arrival of Christmas has brought happiness and magic to Wilson's family.
