It’s spooky season—a time for fun, scares, and a bit of darkness. During this time of year, we expect to see creepy decorations everywhere. It’s not yet time for the cheerful holiday season.
However, just because Halloween is near doesn’t mean we can’t show kindness. One Halloween fan shared this message in a TikTok video that has since gone viral.
Salena Webb loves Halloween. She is a mother of four from South Carolina, and like many others, she celebrates by decorating her yard with Halloween items. Salena created a whole graveyard scene in her front yard, complete with ghosts, spiderwebs, pumpkins, a witch, tombstones, and skeletons carrying a casket. It took a lot of time to set up the display. But when her neighbor came to ask her to take it down, she agreed.
Her neighbor asked her to remove some decorations to make things easier for his elderly father.
Salena shared the moment her neighbor visited her to make the request in a TikTok video. In the video, the neighbor explains, “Hey, I know you’re celebrating Halloween. My dad just got diagnosed with lung cancer. He thinks the decorations are a bit scary.” He then points to the graveyard scene and asks, “Would you mind taking just the casket out?”
Salena removed the casket and gave the skeletons badminton rackets instead. She moved the more scary decorations to her backyard. “I was a little sad at first,” Salena wrote in her TikTok caption, “But I realized that taking away the casket wouldn’t hurt me, but it might help my neighbor feel better as he deals with this news. Kindness is free, and compassion goes a long way.”
Many people praised Salena for her kindness. She posted the video and asked her followers what they would have done in her situation. While some said they wouldn’t have taken down their decorations, many praised Salena for her compassion.
“Now this is what being a good neighbor is all about. Kindness doesn’t cost anything. Thank you!” one user commented.
Another person wrote, “This was beautifully handled. The world needs more people like you! God bless you!”
Salena’s neighbor also appreciated her gesture. After she took down the casket, she brought him a card and some balloons. Even though there was a language barrier between them, she could tell he was thankful. He told her, “You’re good people.”
I discovered that my husband switches from his SUV to an old, inexpensive car every day and drives off somewhere – so I decided to follow him
This story is such a raw, compelling journey from devastation to resilience. Diana’s strength in the face of such betrayal is heart-wrenching, but it’s also incredibly inspiring. The layers of her discovery—starting with the suspicion, then the confrontation with Brenda, and ultimately her choice to keep her children and Brenda’s son as family—capture the strength it takes to face an impossible situation and turn it into a chance for growth and solidarity.
Diana’s decision to forgive Brenda, despite the pain, and even work toward creating a sense of family between their children is a beautiful example of compassion triumphing over bitterness. It feels like she’s showing that real love, as she says, isn’t about grand gestures but the choice to keep going and hold on to what’s real, even when everything else is broken.
This story would make a powerful short story or even a novel about self-discovery and finding strength in the most unexpected places. Have you thought about expanding it, or maybe continuing to write about how Diana builds her new life post-divorce?
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