KARE 11 Minneapolis reports that a 99 year old woman and a 2 year old boy have become friends after seeing so much of each other during quarantine. Benjamin Olson and his next-door neighbor, Mary O’Neill, live next door to each other and started seeing each other because Benjamin couldn't go to daycare.
At first, Mary would wave to Benjamin from her window, then she started coming outside to say hello and soon the pals were meeting regularly at the fence between their homes. Mary then came out of her house with a laundry basket filled with old metal Tonka trucks. She explained that she had kept them after her son died. He died about a decade ago. Her husband died 37 years ago.
Now they enjoy sitting on the steps and blowing bubbles together and playing a game they made up called cane ball, where he kicks Mary a ball and she uses her cane to pass it back to the tot.
Benjamin’s mom, Sarah, says he didn’t see other kids for more than a year and only interacted with the family and Mary. “They ended up forming an incredibly strong bond. Mary is fiercely independent. She doesn’t really show her cards. So I got really emotional when I heard her say that she missed Benjamin on the days when it was too cold or rainy to go outside.”
Benjamin felt the same way.
Mary really is Benjamin's best friend. She’s his first best friend.”