There are few things worse than trying to get a job done without the right tools. Of course, you can improvise and make do with what you have. But more often than not, it makes the task a whole lot more difficult and time-consuming. Young father Blake Mealy quickly (or actually rather slowly) discovered this when he tried using a tiny push mower to cut the huge lawn of his family’s new home in the backcountry of Virginia’s Blue Ridge Mountains. There’s no doubt the Mealy family has still got a lot to learn about country life, but luckily a few kind strangers came along and saved the day.
Mealy’s wife, Madison, recently shared a video on TikTok and Instagram of her husband’s heartfelt effort as he mowed the lawn with their baby perched in a carrier on his back. However, she also admitted a hint of amusement at her husband’s choice of tiny lawn mower after she’d sent him out to purchase one for the admittedly large job. And she quickly realized just how long the chore would take him with nothing but the tiny contraption to rely on, commenting with a mixture of mirth, exasperation, and pity that it was “taking him HOURS” to finish.
After taking a quick shower, she went back to check on her husband’s progress and Mealy was met with a heartwarming surprise. As she looked out the window, she saw that several kind strangers, assumed to be neighbors, had shown up to help her husband tackle their lawn. It seems they couldn’t just leave him to do it alone after witnessing the dedicated father attempt the job with a mower that wasn’t quite up to the task.
“We’ve never met these people before,” Mealy shares in the video. “They drove by and saw my poor husband with his tiny mower, showed up and mowed the entire lawn for COMPLETE strangers.”
The video has quickly amassed more than 20 million views on TikTok (and another 1.5 million on Instagram), with several people expressing how touched they were by the impromptu act of kindness between neighbors. “Not me crying over lawn mowers,” commented one viewer on Instagram. “That is truly what life is about,” added another viewer on TikTok. “We all need each other.”
Several people chalked the heartwarming act of kindness from strangers up to the tight-knit nature of small, rural communities, especially in the American South. But as for Mealy’s take-away from this whole experience? “There’s a lot of good left in this world,” the young mom writes. Also…it might be time to invest in a riding lawn mower.
One young dad made the mistake of buying one entirely too tiny lawn mower to cut his massive yard.
But thanks to the kindness of strangers, he was able to finish the job. Luckily, they have very nice neighbors.
Watch the whole heartwarming video of the touching act of kindness.
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Madison Mealy: TikTok | Instagram
h/t: [Upworthy, Bored Panda]
All images via The Madison Mealy.
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