In the fall of 2016, Shadow Ridge High School was preparing to hold its homecoming dance. Like many students, 17-year-old Daniel Rivas wanted a date. Despite his efforts, he faced rejection, likely because he had Down syndrome. Just when hope seemed lost, a classmate named Kylie Fronius asked him to the dance, according to Inspiration Post.
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Kylie saw Daniel as more than a boy with Down syndrome; to her, he was a "Homie with an extra chromie." Her heartwarming gesture caught the community's attention and was covered by Fox5 Las Vegas, spreading rapidly. “I don’t think of kids that have a disability as being different,” Kylie said. “I think of them just being a normal person learning in a different way.”
Representative Image Source: Pexels | Mart Production
Daniel’s mother, Tonya Rivas, a real estate professional, was moved by Kylie’s empathy. “It’s not about that Daniel has a disability,” sheadded, “It’s Kylie didn’t see any disability. That is what your heart wants as a mom.”
On the day of the homecoming dance, the couple were visited by the host of Fox5 Surprise Squad, Monica Jackson, who brought with her a bounty of surprises. Sponsored by United Nissan and America First Credit Union, the FOX5 Surprise Squad makes their way around the towns of Las Vegas, surprising lucky viewers.
“Your story touched so many people,” Jackson told Kylie and Daniel. “It's gonna be a pretty special night for you,” Jackson asked and Kylie said yes. “So we want you guys to arrive in style,” said Jackson. As she was saying this, a gleaming Rolls Royce came rolling towards them. Tonya gasped in surprise covering her mouth with the palm of her hand.
The next segment of the footage showed the teen couple seated in the back seat of the car, overjoyed at the amazeballs surprise. The car drove through a sunlit roadway, arriving at Aliante casino where the teens were ushered inside a bistro. There they met Chef Franco De Furia who served them spaghetti with meatballs, which were Daniel’s favorite. For Kylie, a pizza was brought over. The meal was followed by desserts and pastries that the duo relished with delight.
“What are your hopes for Daniel after high school,” Jackson asked Tonya after lunch. Tonya said that Daniel wanted to go to college and become a chef. She said she’d try her best to give him the education he wished to pursue. In a few moments, the group arrived at another scene. Students in glittery party dresses were hooting and cheering for the couple. The footage caption revealed that it was a “Red carpet surprise” organized by the students of the school.
Representative Image Source: Pexels | Photo by Trinity Kubassek
The group walked inside and danced their hearts out. But the night of surprises wasn’t finished yet, “We are not done,” announced Jackson, adding, “We are sending you and your families to Disneyland.” The crowd burst into cheers and applause. There was another surprise for Daniel. After he passed out from high school, Daniel would receive a $10,000 scholarship.
When Daniel received his big surprise, Kylie wasn’t left out. Soon enough, she was gifted a glistening white brand-new Sentra. Don Forman, United Nissan’s owner extended the car towards Kylie as a surprise gift. She was gobsmacked. In addition, Daniel was also provided with ten tickets to his favorite Marvel’s Avengers station, which was disclosed in the behind-the-scenes footage. The day of surprises wrapped up. As Kylie and Daniel were seated in their newly-earned Rolls Royce, Kylie asked her partner, “You happy buddy?” He responded with a cool “Yeah!”
Representative Image Source: Pexels | Mart Production
This was not just a story of empathy and kindness, but also about acceptance and unconditional love for others. When one focuses on others’ abilities more than their disability, they subconsciously learn to love themselves. In the story, it was Kylie who poured her empathy and looked at Daniel like he was as special as others. In the process, she found her joy, which made the entire event so heartwarming for people.
Image Source: YouTube | @willmorin359
Nearly 8 million people watched their story and thousands commented. @maikahk1872 said, “I'm a grown man in tears right now. I pray my daughters grow to think and act like Kylie. What a beautiful soul she is! God bless her and her amazing mother who raised her right!” Lauding Kylie, @jameslivingstone7428 commented, “This young lady knows more about compassion and caring than many adults and so-called leaders. Well done young lady, your parent must be so proud of you, and if not, millions of others are!” @junedeike6144 added, “Thank God there are still young women with big hearts like this girl. She will be great when she gets older. Don't change girl. You are the best.”
Image Source: YouTube | @Miyuki200812
Another person, @garysluhan7903, whose sister also had Down’s Syndrome reflected that, “These kids are just like us!” No wonder, the young lady won everyone’s hearts by treating Daniel with respect and love. “You just saw a young lady with a huge heart, and she was inspirational,” were Forman’s words from the footage. Forman said that being a part of the Surprise Squad was “truly fulfilling.”
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Will your current friends still be with you after seven years?
Professor shares how many years a friendship must last before it'll become lifelong
Think of your best friend. How long have you known them? Growing up, children make friends and say they’ll be best friends forever. That’s where “BFF” came from, for crying out loud. But is the concept of the lifelong friend real? If so, how many years of friendship will have to bloom before a friendship goes the distance? Well, a Dutch study may have the answer to that last question.
Sociologist Gerald Mollenhorst and his team in the Netherlands did extensive research on friendships and made some interesting findings in his surveys and studies. Mollenhorst found that over half of your friendships will “shed” within seven years. However, the relationships that go past the seven-year mark tend to last. This led to the prevailing theory that most friendships lasting more than seven years would endure throughout a person’s lifetime.
In Mollenhorst’s findings, lifelong friendships seem to come down to one thing: reciprocal effort. The primary reason so many friendships form and fade within seven-year cycles has much to do with a person’s ages and life stages. A lot of people lose touch with elementary and high school friends because so many leave home to attend college. Work friends change when someone gets promoted or finds a better job in a different state. Some friends get married and have children, reducing one-on-one time together, and thus a friendship fades. It’s easy to lose friends, but naturally harder to keep them when you’re no longer in proximity.
Some people on Reddit even wonder if lifelong friendships are actually real or just a romanticized thought nowadays. However, older commenters showed that lifelong friendship is still possible:
“I met my friend on the first day of kindergarten. Maybe not the very first day, but within the first week. We were texting each other stupid memes just yesterday. This year we’ll both celebrate our 58th birthdays.”
“My oldest friend and I met when she was just 5 and I was 9. Next-door neighbors. We're now both over 60 and still talk weekly and visit at least twice a year.”
“I’m 55. I’ve just spent a weekend with friends I met 24 and 32 years ago respectively. I’m also still in touch with my penpal in the States. I was 15 when we started writing to each other.”
“My friends (3 of them) go back to my college days in my 20’s that I still talk to a minimum of once a week. I'm in my early 60s now.”
“We ebb and flow. Sometimes many years will pass as we go through different things and phases. Nobody gets buttsore if we aren’t in touch all the time. In our 50s we don’t try and argue or be petty like we did before. But I love them. I don’t need a weekly lunch to know that. I could make a call right now if I needed something. Same with them.”
Maintaining a friendship for life is never guaranteed, but there are ways, psychotherapists say, that can make a friendship last. It’s not easy, but for a friendship to last, both participants need to make room for patience and place greater weight on their similarities than on the differences that may develop over time. Along with that, it’s helpful to be tolerant of large distances and gaps of time between visits, too. It’s not easy, and it requires both people involved to be equally invested to keep the friendship alive and from becoming stagnant.
As tough as it sounds, it is still possible. You may be a fortunate person who can name several friends you’ve kept for over seven years or over seventy years. But if you’re not, every new friendship you make has the same chance and potential of being lifelong.