Thanks to the Make-a-Wish Foundation, a 6-year-old boy who had been battling leukemia got to meet Tom Brady, his favorite player.
But it's what the boy brought with him that really made an impression.
After three years, the cancer is now in remission for Gabriel Aljalian. On the anniversary of his diagnosis, his family elected to use the day as a way of generating positive energy. They used social media to launch "Gabriel's Day of Kindness," encouraging people across the country to perform an act of kindness for a stranger.
A week ago, Gabriel received $20 from someone with instructions to keep half of it and use the other half to do something kind for someone else.
When Gabriel arrived at the Patriots practice facility to hang out with Brady on the field, he handed the quarterback his $10, along with a thank-you note. According to WHDH, Brady politely declined the money but gave Gabriel a hug.
Gabriel had told the quarterback he was given the money to do good things, and he wanted Brady to have it to do good things, too.
The moment was a cathartic one for his family as well.
"I just remembered all the tears and anxiety he went through and to see him in that moment, grinning in that moment," his mother told WHDH. "There's nothing that makes a mom feel more happy than seeing their child that way."
