Current:Home > MarketsA Detroit man turned to strangers to bring Christmas joy to a neighbor reeling from tragedy-Angel Dreamer Wealth Society D1 Reviews & Insights
A Detroit man turned to strangers to bring Christmas joy to a neighbor reeling from tragedy
View Date:2024-12-24 07:49:12
Detroit — In a duplex on Detroit's west side, downstairs renter Colin McConnell said the new neighbors above him had been disrupting his peace below.
"I thought it was the Detroit Lions practicing up there some nights, you know?" McConnell told CBS News.
In actuality, it was 3 pee-wee running backs, sprinting back and forth across the hardwood.
The children belong to 33-year-old Donald Wilson. For months, McConnell knew nothing about him beyond what he could hear through the floorboards.
But when they finally met, McConnell said he picked up a whisper of something much more.
"You could just tell something was weighing on him," McConnell said. "So that's when I was kind of like, 'You good?' And he just kind of was like, 'Not really.'"
As McConnell discovered, Wilson had just lost Lakenya, the love of his life and mother of his children. She had died of a stroke in August at the age of 39. The two had been co-parenting, but living separately, when she died.
"Just not having that person here, you know what I mean?" Wilson told CBS News. "You know, I can't be like her."
Juggling the children and a full-time job with virtually no savings was overwhelming.
After McConnell heard Wilson's story, the noise from above became the least of his worries. He posted a video to social media asking for anything to help Wilson's family. Within hours, boxes started showing up on McConnell's doorstep.
It was everything Wilson and his children would need for Christmas and beyond. But Wilson said the best gift of all was that it all came from strangers.
"That was the best feeling, because it was random people that you don't expect," Wilson said. "That surprise joy, it was just amazing. I've never felt it before."
Very soon, people will be listening for sleighbells. But in this duplex, McConnell will be listening for the pounding feet of children enchanted, knowing that Christmas has come.
- In:
- Detroit
- Christmas
Steve Hartman has been a CBS News correspondent since 1998, having served as a part-time correspondent for the previous two years.
veryGood! (721)
Related
- A herniated disc is painful, debilitating. How to get relief.
- Gigi Hadid and Bradley Cooper Show Sweet PDA on Yacht in Italy
- Bill Belichick, Nick Saban were often brutal with media. Now they are media.
- Applications for US jobless benefits fall to 2-month low as layoffs remain at healthy levels
- Shawn Mendes Confesses He and Camila Cabello Are No Longer the Closest
- Worst team in MLB history? 120-loss record inevitable for Chicago White Sox
- Footage of motorcade racing JFK to the hospital after he was shot is set to go to auction
- Led by Caitlin Clark, Kelsey Mitchell, Indiana Fever clinch first playoff berth since 2016
- Shaboozey to headline halftime show of Lions-Bears game on Thanksgiving
- 90-year-old Navy veteran shot, killed during carjacking in Houston, police say
Ranking
- Kentucky officer reprimanded for firing non-lethal rounds in 2020 protests under investigation again
- Travis, Jason Kelce talk three-peat, LeBron, racehorses on 'New Heights' podcast
- Orlando Bloom Has the Perfect Response to Katy Perry's NSFW Comments About Sex and Housework
- When do new episodes of 'Power Book II: Ghost' Season 4 come out? Release date, time, cast, where to watch
- How Saturday Night Live Reacted to Donald Trump’s Win Over Kamala Harris
- LL COOL J Reveals the Reason Behind His 10-Year Music Hiatus—And Why The Force Is Worth the Wait
- Ina Garten Says Her Father Was Physically Abusive
- Joaquin Phoenix on 'complicated' weight loss for 'Joker' sequel: 'I probably shouldn't do this again'
Recommendation
-
Arkansas governor unveils $102 million plan to update state employee pay plan
-
Power outages could last weeks in affluent SoCal city plagued by landslides
-
YouTuber Paul Harrell Announces His Own Death at 58
-
Team USA's Tatyana McFadden wins 21st career Paralympic medal
-
Target will be closed on Thanksgiving: Here’s when stores open on Black Friday
-
Karolina Muchova returns to US Open semifinals for second straight year by beating Haddad Maia
-
Olympian Stephen Nedoroscik Shares How His Girlfriend Is Supporting Him Through Dancing With The Stars
-
California settles lawsuit with Sacramento suburb over affordable housing project