Dashcam captures 5-year-old boy comforting grieving dad who just lost the man who raised him

Kids have a way of saying the right thing without even trying, and sometimes, they say the one thing we need to hear, right when we need it most. For one father grieving the loss of his uncle, his five-year-old son managed to bring comfort most unexpectedly, using a memory tied to their shared love of football. The father shared the moment on Reddit under the username u/Rpark888.

He wrote in his post that his own father had died when he was just five years old, and it was his uncle who helped take care of him afterward. "We just got news of his passing the other day. My 5-year-old son tries to cheer me up by telling me they're in good company," he wrote. He explained that football had always been a strong bond between them, going on to note, "I've been a die-hard Ravens fan since I was a child. Now my son is a Ravens fan too." He recalled how, during their first football game together last year, his son asked which team Johnny Unitas now played for. "I told him that the angels took him to heaven now, and now he's invisible and plays for heaven's team," he said. That memory would soon mean much more than either of them expected.

Sitting together in the car, still processing the loss of his uncle, the father found himself struggling to find the right words. "I don't know how to react right now," he admitted out loud to his son. Without hesitation, his five-year-old son responded, "I'm gonna tell you something. The angels took your cousin, your uncle, and your dad to heaven now. Because angels are invisible." Fighting back tears, the father said, "You are right, Princeton. Now, my uncle and my dad are hanging out." Princeton, remembering that conversation about Johnny Unitas, added, "Johnny Unitas is invisible." Overcome with emotion, the father laughed through his tears. "I love you so much, man," he said. "Love you too," Princeton replied.

Princeton reminded his dad of their shared memories and showed a deeper level of emotional insight for his age, which is actually not surprising. A report published in the Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology concluded that even at an early age, children are capable of displaying empathetic, prosocial behaviors that provide real emotional support. The paper found, "Results for 51 6-year-olds indicated that children's empathy and role taking were related, and that both were associated with imaginative thinking." At the end of his Reddit post, the father shared a photo of the two of them standing proudly in front of Johnny Unitas’s statue, both wearing Ravens shirts. The post touched people across Reddit, with users flooding the comments to share their support.

u/TwirlSnout said, "It really is a beautiful moment, buddy is a really lovely kid and he is lucky to have OP as his dad. Kindness really is everything." u/Terionfel wrote, "Seeing this made my heart warm. It’s so obvious that kindness runs in the family." u/SaffronRune added, "So sorry for your loss. You’re in good company too. Very understanding little boy." u/BriskiPikachuu chimed in, "Kids have a way of reminding us of the good in sad situations. My son has always made me feel better." u/Stambro1 quipped, "I’m sorry for your loss! It looks like they raised a good man, and you are passing that down to your little man! That’s all we can do, is love!"