The little girl waved to the trains passing by her house every day: 3 years later the locomotive drivers noticed a sign at the little girl’s window and they knew they had to do something immediately
The well-known phrase “you never know how much you care about someone until you lose them” is as true as it can be and can be applied in many cases. And for some locomotive mechanics in Tulsa, Oklahoma, that someone was a little girl named Rio, who made them every day by hand from a window by the railroad tracks.
Three years after they began responding to the girl’s greeting, the locomotive drivers noticed that Rio was no longer appearing at the window. Instead, they could see a sign – which broke their hearts.
Briana Hefley Shepard posted the moving story on the Love What Matters Facebook page, and you can read it in full below:
“Our family business moved to the new location about three years ago. The building is located right along the railway lines, which means we have a place primarily to see all the locomotives passing by. Rio has a passion for it. ”
“It didn’t take long for the locomotive drivers to notice that Rio was making them by hand, and for them to respond to her greeting. As time went on, this became their daily ritual. When she heard them ringing the trumpet, the little girl ran to the window, they opened the locomotive window, and everyone waved and smiled. They brought tears to my eyes almost every time. ”
“Then, a few weeks ago, Rio started school.”
“The transition to the daily school schedule affected me more than I expected, but the worst was marked on the first day when the train passed and she was not there.”
“The mechanics rang the horn, opened the windows, but I was the only one sitting there crying and making inertia with my hand. The next day I made a sign. I simply wrote, ‘School has started.’ I heard the locomotive whistle, ran to the window, and picked up the cardboard. That was three weeks ago. ”
“This morning, after I entered the store, someone knocked on the door. It was a man in a light yellow shirt with hanging earplugs. I assumed it was a construction worker who came to talk about a job because that’s what we do here. I was wrong. The man was there to ask about the blond-haired girl who waved at trains. ”
“She was one of those mechanics and they were all wondering what happened to her. Today they had an incomplete set, so they stopped on the way, went to our building, and knocked on the door. Alas, what I cried. They saw my message, but could not understand what it was writing. They assumed school had started, but they had to make sure. The man told me that her greeting made their days more beautiful. They shared these moments for three years. ”
“They wanted to do something for her; they are missing. He asked me if he could send him something, which I said, of course! They will send her a birthday present in a few weeks. ”
“Seeing their friendship so unusual over the last few years has been truly magical. Knowing that these people are as affected as we are is filling my heart with love and hope. Today’s visit and their friendship with Rio reaffirmed my confidence in kindness and humanity. These are the moments we will always remember. ”
Rio will always remember standing at the window looking out at the trains, waving to the mechanics, and hearing them sound the locomotive’s whistle just for her.
Little kindness means a lot, just like the railroad workers showed this little girl, marking her life forever.
This is a wonderful story about friendship and how the little things in life can make a difference – we should never hesitate to do something nice for a stranger.
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