4-Year-Old Boy Starts a Wave of Neighborly Love

When young Roman Butzlaff was feeling lonely after his parents separated, he started filling his cup by greeting and waving to his neighbors in Concord, North Carolina. “If the world was like this child, what an awesome, awesome place it would be,” said one community member.

Not many children crave connection more than Roman and, if you pass by his house, he will surely greet you with a wave and a "hey." "He wakes up every day excited to say 'hi' to somebody, like, that's the first thing he wants to do," his mother, Anna Butzlaff, told CBS News. And, happily, all those seeds of friendliness he had planted began to bloom.

It started with a neighbor who lives across the street from Roman. He went over to meet the boy who was always waving. They started doing things together. Eventually, other neighbors followed suit. They would stop and chat or even take part in activities together. Roman's mother said it was initially a bit strange because she barely knew any of these people. "I didn't really know how to take it. I just saw that my son was happy."

Which is why she went along with it when Roman then began inviting many different neighbors to his soccer games, basketball games and baseball games. Other neighbors came to his swimming lessons and even his preschool open house.

Roman's "love thy neighbor" attitude is having a wonderful ripple effect as he has now brought together about a dozen neighbors who say they would have barely known each other if not for that little boy, who lived in a neighborhood but needed a village.

Said one neighbor: "Look at what this little kid has built."

Added another: "If the world was like this child, what an awesome, awesome place it would be."