It’s not been a particularly great week on the Internet. No, scratch that—month. Actually, come to think of it, the last few years haven’t been amazing. There’s bad news everywhere we look. Divisiveness. Arguing. Violence.
Maybe that’s why this small story of kindness and hope is resonating so deeply with everyone who comes across it. It’s a simple story of people being good to one another, and that’s what we need right now more than ever.
A mom named Sam Evanz occasionally shares updates about her husband’s local softball team on TikTok. Recently, she posted an incredibly heartfelt message the team received from one of their teammates. The teammate just so happens to be an 81-year-old man.
Evanz’s husband is on a 15-player casual team in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. One of the players is 81-year-old Nelson Bradbury. The oldest on the team by a solid margin, Bradbury recently took the chance to tell the guys just how much he appreciated the opportunity to play with them, even though he may not be the best athlete out there anymore.
“Well guys , just up to do my middle of the night pee. I have been laying in bed for the past half hour thinking about tonight’s game and thinking about the great bunch of guys I am allowed to play with,” the long text message begins, coming through at approximately 2:30 a.m.
“I really appreciate the way you guys treat me as an equal and not just an old fart. … It’s all of you who keep me going and give me the reason to get out of bed in the morning.”
You’ll just have to read the whole thing in Evanz’s post to fully appreciate Bradbury’s gratitude and contagious sense of humor.
Evanz was stunned when her post went massively viral, racking up nearly 15 million views as of this writing.
“The response has been pretty incredible!” she tells Upworthy, saying multiple international media outlets picked up the story including a sports reporter in Italy.
Commenters on the post were overwhelmed with appreciation for Bradbury. And, in an instant, fiercely protective of him.
“EVERYONE BETTER HAVE TEXTED BACK”
“AND EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM BETTER HAVE TOLD HIM HOW MUCH HE MEANS TO THE TEAM!”
“he’s been thinking this for a while but was scared to say it and i’m so glad he did. now if they didn’t respond we’re riding at dusk cause dawn is too far away.”
“It’s just a game to you but for him it’s the reasons he gets up everyday”
The Philadelphia Eagles official TikTok account even chimed in: “Being a teammate is a special thing.”
Nelson Bradbury stans will be happy to know that his teammates appreciated the message just as much as the rest of us do. Many of them wrote back the next morning, according to an update posted by Evanz.
“Glad to have ya you old fart!!!” one joked.
“You may not know this but it’s your example that keeps a lot of us older… oops… mature players going,” another said.
You can see a picture of the whole squad here:
The famous quote from playwright George Bernard Shaw says, “We don’t stop playing because we get old. We get old because we stop playing.”
Never has the quote been more fitting. Friendship, community, and even play are things all of us humans need. We only need it more as we age. Loneliness reduces our lifespan, while friendship improves not only our longevity but our happiness and quality of life. It may be a simple softball league, but it means a lot to the men who participate, and especially to Bradbury.
Bradbury has a terrific outlook on his life and on how he hopes to spend the rest of his days, of which there are hopefully many. Evanz says that Bradbury is having fun with all the viral attention, and he has even joined TikTok himself so he can keep up with all the mayhem.
“I don’t know if I will get another year in the league or not,” he writes in the original message. “Shit, I don’t buy GREEN bananas any more. But I do know, this will be the year of ball play I will remember.”
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