Woman shares one-of-a-kind story of how she struck up an unlikely friendship with an 89-year-old man

The older generation becoming friends with the younger ones is usually a rare scenario but this woman's friendship with an 89-year-old man is the most wholesome thing that you will witness on the internet. Aoife Isabella Malone, who goes by the username @aoifebellamalone on TikTok, shared in a slideshow how she became friends with an elderly man and how this beautiful relationship has bloomed over the past nine years. 

She started her story by saying, "The slightly bizarre story of how I became friends with an 89 (now 98) year-old man." When Aoife was 19 years old, she moved to a small town in Scotland to study fashion and started working at a bookstore to support herself. In the slides, she showed a picture of Tommy with the text overlay: "A man named Tommy would come in multiple times a day. It was obvious he was really lonely. His wife had died the year before and he was coming into the bookies for some company." After a few days of working there, the woman asked Tommy during one of her shifts if she could join him for bingo that night. "He was delighted and got all dressed up for the occasion," she wrote.

Aoife added that her university friends joined them because they were not comfortable about her meeting a stranger at night. "Tommy walking into the bingo with four young ones on his arm was the talk of the town that week," the text overlay revealed. The woman said that night was the beginning of their beautiful friendship. "I'd see Tommy when I was at work every day and I'd go to his house a few times a week. He'd cook me dinner at his house or I'd take him out for dinner or the cinema - 'the pictures' as he calls it," she shared. One slide featured a picture of Tommy sitting at a restaurant, about to start his meal. She added that she would even take him to charity shops a lot.

Moreover, he even modeled for one of her university projects. "Killed it tbh," she expressed. The project had pictures of Tommy with different facial expressions and poses, and some of them were hilarious. That's not all. He even taught her driving and she ended up passing her test in his car. "I'd had instructors back home in Belfast but if Tommy hadn't taken me out to practice nearly every day for months I'd never have passed, "Aoife shared.

After the first year of college, Aoife and her friends moved to Edinburgh and started to commute to university. Tommy would meet them every day at the station and drive them to their university. "He became good friends with all of my friends and we'd take him out for dinner, watch the six nations at his house, and even had a surprise birthday for him one year," the text overlay read. Aoife shared pictures of Tommy with her friends, brothers and mother.

However, after she graduated, she got a job in NYC and Aoife was sad to leave her friend behind. "We spent our last night sitting on a bench in St. Andrew's Square in Edinburgh sharing earphones and listening to Frank Sinatra, lol. I wasn't sure how long I'd be in America so I was scared I wouldn't see him for years and I'd say he felt the same," she said. She also shared a picture from that day in which Tommy is hugging Aoife. Once the pandemic hit, the woman called Tommy every day to make sure he was doing fine.

She then mentioned how it's been nine years since the start of this friendship. "This month nine years ago, I met Tommy in the bookies! Nine whole years of friendship. He was in World War II and has some amazing stores. He's a big feminist and really doesn't understand the world we live in now and how it's gotten so dark. He helped me through breakups, shitty jobs and university stress. Over the years, he has taught me a lot," Aoife wrote in a text overlay and shared a picture of her with Tommy. She ended by saying that she gets to see him every six weeks or so now and that he lives in a care home but is still as sharp as the day she met him. 

People in the comments shared how much they loved this heart-touching story. @spoobiez commented, "You probably gave him more years to his life, gave him something to look forward to, and helped him through loneliness, you’re an angel." @athomewith_abby wrote, "Love that you just adopted a grandad! Very sweet!" @k.g1612 shared, "I wish you understood how amazing you’ve probably made this man feel, at a time when he felt he had no one. Thank you." @alliehack21 expressed, "I am sobbing my eyes out as a carer for the elderly, thank you. You're making the last chapter of his life worth the last 98 years."

You can follow Aoife Isabella Malone (@aoifebellamalone) on TikTok for more wholesome content.