‘When In Rome,’ Do What Roman Butzlaff Does

July 16, 2026: With his natural effervescence, 4-year-old Roman Butzlaff has turned his Concord, North Carolina, community into a true wellspring of kindness.

It started with a wave. A neighbor named Wade Fulgum saw the effervescent 4-year-old Roman Butzlaff waving at passersby, giving them a bright, “Hey!” as they went along their day. Fulgum decided to pay the smiling child a visit. From there, more neighbors followed suit.

At first, the onslaught of new neighbors coming by the house gave mother Anna Butzlaff pause. “I didn’t really know how to take it. I just saw that my son was happy.” Happiness is exactly what Anna craved for her son. Roman witnessed his parents split up a year ago, his father moving to Florida. Coupled with Roman’s grandparents living in a different state, the young boy had to deal with loss and loneliness.

He found his refuge in greeting neighbors with a smile and a wave. “He wakes up every day excited to say ‘hi’ to somebody, like, that’s the first thing he wants to do,” Anna reveals.

The gift of salutation morphed into invitations to games and matches of the various sports Roman was a part of. Some neighbors would even come to his swimming lessons and preschool open house. With so much goodwill established between them, it was only natural that when his birthday rolled around, Roman wanted to invite all his new elderly friends.

Roman Butzlaff’s natural kindness has done more than make a few of his elderly neighbors smile. What this young child has done has effectively created a community where there was simply a neighborhood. At least a dozen of the neighborhood’s residents have mentioned that Roman’s actions have allowed folks who had never met each other to get to know each other and truly come together.

What’s the Bright Side?

With a seemingly small act of kindness, a young child with a heart the size of Texas was able to completely transform his neighborhood. The viral news around us would have us believe that we are limited in our ability to bring some joy to the world. That our random acts of kindness really don’t amount to much. But look at what a child of 4 years old can do with a wave and a “Hello.” He’s galvanized a community to check in on itself, to be available for important moments, to truly become a village in the midst of post-pandemic isolation.

As one of Roman’s neighbors remarked, “Look at what this little kid has built.”

“If the world was like this child, what an awesome, awesome place it would be,” another neighbor offered. Indeed, if we all simply exchanged small kindnesses, like young Roman Butzlaff, we could slowly but surely recalibrate our human connections.

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