Mom Britney Tankersley learned a lesson from her son Myles when he revealed to her something about one of his classmates at school. He explained how “he had to be twins with a boy in his class for Twin Day because they look exactly the same,” as she later recounted in a Facebook post. Seeing the boy’s photo, though, taught her something touching.
Agreeing to buy matching outfits for Myles and his “twin,” Tankersley saw from the photo his teacher had taken of the pair that Myles’s friend was African American. She was so moved by how color-blind her son was that she shared the photo online with a message: “Wouldn’t the world be such a better place if we could all view it through the eyes of a couple 5yr olds♥️,” she wrote.
Tankersley wasn’t too happy about finding out about the event at such short notice, she but managed to find two decent matching button-down shirts at Walmart.
She didn’t know the mother or the child and naturally asked Myles’s teacher if she could get a photo to see this lookalike. “I expect to get a picture of another white child with light skin and brown hair, whatever, but I didn’t get that at all,” Tankersley said. She described the photo as “the sweetest thing in the world.”
Tankersley has since made contact with the boy’s mother, Lakendra Watts, and the “best buddies” realized that they only lived minutes away from each other and could play together regularly. “There’s always a lot of kids that dress up that don’t look alike, but this was unique,” Tankersley said.
She acknowledged that her young son had taught her a lesson about what really matters. “I was kind of put in my place because I was expecting to see something totally different, and that’s not what it was at all,” she said.
The photo garnered an incredible number of interactions, with over half a million likes and a quarter of a million shares. Tankersley was shocked but happy that the story resonated with people around the country and the world. “My objective is never to be in the spotlight, but I think the message is more important than how much it exploded,” she added.
Many social media users commented to say how inspiring the boys’ friendship is and how much could be learned from it. One person commented on Facebook, “I love what’s embroidered on their shirts, ‘Future Leaders!’ They look it already!” Not only did Myles see beyond skin color, but he also found a friend who accepted him the way he was—as Myles has a speech delay and uses a cochlear implant.
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