Being a kid isn’t always easy. Fifth-grader Daniel Gambrill has been struggling a lot lately. According to his mom, Katie Gambril, other kids have been bullying him. In response, Daniel wrote a letter to his class. In it, he was open and vulnerable about what he’s been going through. Ultimately, though, he chose to throw the letter away.
As fate would have it, the night janitor found the letter. It had landed in a way to where the words could be seen and, for a moment, it caught the janitor’s eye — he thought it may have been misplaced homework. Once he saw what it actually, the janitor wrote the boy a letter back.
Janitor Wrote Heartfelt Letter for Lonely Boy
In Daniel’s note, he mentions feeling lonely. The night janitor, who was later revealed to be Ian Greenarch, understands this feeling well.
“I know how it feels,” Ian later shared. “Back when I was in his grade I also had people bugging me, messing with me all the time.”
Ian recognizes how much it would have meant to him if someone had reached out to him back then, so he decided to be that person for Daniel through the letter he wrote him.
“I want you to know that I’m thinking about you, buddy,” this kindhearted janitor wrote to the boy in his letter. “… I know most have trouble feeling like they don’t fit in with other classmates, but in all honesty, being yourself and being kind to others in any situation you’ll experience, will take you very far!”
When Daniel shared this letter with his mom, he had tears of joy in his eyes. As soon as she read the letter, she cried, too.
Katie took to Facebook to find Ian and, since then, the three of them have officially met. The group is now being used to document their journey. It also serves as a way for others to share kind words with Daniel and Ian.
“I’m so, so humbled to see just what one act can do for, you know, a boy, a community — it was really special,” Ian said.
Watch this beloved janitor meet the boy he wrote a letter for in the heartwarming video below.
You can find the source of this story’s featured image here!
Want to be happier in just 5 minutes a day? Sign up for Morning Smile and join over 455,000+ people who start each day with good news.