A mum has shared a touching story about how her daughter reacted when her friend was subjected to a racist comment.
Rachel Stafford, from the US, who blogs at Hands Free Mama, said the two girls were on the school bus when the remark was made.
Stafford wrote on Love What Matters: “My child said tearfully: ‘I asked her if she was okay. She didn’t say anything, so I just scooted closer’.
“Reluctantly, she admitted: ‘I didn’t know what to do, mama, so I just hurt with her.’
“I hurt with her. It took me a moment to recover from that. I filed those powerful words away and continued observing this mighty pair.”
Stafford explained that over the years of the two girls’ friendship, she has loved watching how they look out for each other.
“Whether one gets hurt on the playground, whether one is getting new glasses and needs an honest opinion, whether one needs encouragement at basketball try-outs, whether one is frightened by a dog, they respond compassionately to each other’s needs,” she wrote.
“When one cannot have a treat due to gluten allergies or braces, the other goes without too.
“And when they have disagreements, they look into each other’s eyes, listen to each other’s words, and work through it.”
Stafford said she has taken note of how the girls treat each other, and she wants the world to take note, too.
“What if we collectively remember, ‘I’ll hurt with you,’ is something we can all do when we don’t know what to do?” she wrote.
“What if we collectively look into the eyes of our brothers and sisters to acknowledge their story and their pain, rather than closing our eyes or looking away?”
Stafford said her husband had sent her the photo of her daughter and her friend sat on the pitch at a local football game together.
“The goal of this mighty little team is to love, to love each other as they want to be loved,” she wrote.
“For they know they are stronger together than they are alone. Let us take note.”
Stafford’s post was liked 32,000 times in two days and had nearly 10,000 shares. Many people shared photos of themselves with their own best friends in the comments.
“What a beautiful story,” one person wrote. “Sometimes all we can do is hurt together. It sure beats hurting alone.”
Another commented: “This gave me the chills reading it. Beautiful. Too bad more adults can’t think like children when it comes to this. Good job, mama.”