Old Schoolfriends Play Music in Park to Cover Friend’s Surgery, 6 Kids with Parents Bring $50K – Story of the Day

When three old friends find out their fourth man might be dying, they decide to play music like old times to raise money for his treatment. Little did they know that their efforts would snowball into something much bigger, thanks to a little girl and her five friends.

Sam, Wayne, and Tim were three men in their 60s jamming in the same dusty old garage they used to back when they were in high school.

They chatted up after ages, remembering the school days when they would take to the stage and play together as a band. They were immersed in conversation, but they had one eye on the door, waiting for the fourth member of their band…

"It feels like yesterday, man!" Wayne looked around, wide-eyed. "It's been more than 40 years since we boys rehearsed here. 40 years!"

"Yup! And remember how we promised to keep in touch and play together once a week?" Tim chuckled. "Sam, remember our brilliant plans?"

"Ah yes! We thought we were inseparable! Now, look at us! Old and wrinkled, joints hurting, meeting at each other's grandkids' weddings…we're terrible at keeping in touch, except Will, of course. He was always calling and messaging. You know how he is!" Sam smiled thinking of his friend.

"Speaking of Will, where is the guy? He's the guy who planned this, our main man, and it's not like him to bail at the last minute…" Sam spoke the group's mind.

Just then, the three men's phones buzzed, and the message that flashed on it made their hearts sink.

It was a message from Jenny, Will's wife.

"C'mon, I'll drive!" Wayne rushed to his car, and the others followed.

A short drive later, the three men knocked on the door of their friend's house and tried to wait patiently.

"Hi, boys!" Jenny looked almost unrecognizably pale except for the wide, infectious smile on her face.

"Where's our Will?" Sam asked, kissing Jenny on her forehead.

"He's taking a nap. The medicines make him all groggy. He hates them!" Jenny frowned as she led them with small steps to the master bedroom.

Tim carefully opened the door, and he and his friends took a peek at their best friend. The tall, threateningly handsome, gentle giant of their classroom was now a shell of himself, weak, thin, and heaving in his sleep.

It moved the three grown men to tears to see their fourth band member in such deplorable health.

And that day, they found out the whole story of Will's illness from his wife and high school sweetheart, Jenny.

Do your part in kindness, and the universe will match it tenfold.

"Will's heart condition is serious, and it has been worsening over the past few months," Jenny said. "There's a surgery that could help, the doctors say. But it's going to cost at least $30,000. And now, after all the treatments, the weddings, and funerals in the family, we don't have that kind of money anymore."

"Money isn't an issue. We'll plan him how much—" Wayne was beginning to say.

"Wayne, you know Will. You know how he can get about money. He's worked tirelessly to bring his family out of generations of debt. And he says he'd rather die than put his folks in debt again," Jenny said, pausing before uttering the next devastating sentence.

"At this rate, the doctors give him 6 months," Jenny said, bursting into helpless tears.

The three men, who were like brothers, comforted her, wiped their own tears, and shook their heads.

"He doesn't get to die on us like that!" Sam said as ideas began to brew in his head.

For the next hour, the three old boys sat around the coffee table and made a plan while Jenny watched in disbelief. "How could such pure friendship exist in such a cruel world?" she thought.

The next day onwards, Sam, Wayne, and Tim brought their musical gear to the busy corner of the neighborhood park, two blocks away from their school.

They gathered at 8 a.m., set up the sound, a standee with the band name "Playing for Will," and a big stack of flyers to hand out. The men stood there for hours, playing song after song from the golden era of music. They were still perfect together, except for Will's soulful voice that was missing.

They took a break for lunch, then were back at it again until the peak evening hours were over.

Right from the first song, passersby felt compelled to turn back and listen. Tourists stopped to take videos of the trio for their social media. People were picking up the flyers and making contributions through their phones. And the big jar they kept in front of them was filling up with money, too…

Sam, Wayne, and Tim had all the right intentions and planning, but they didn't take into account their own exhaustion. By the third day, it had become difficult to play even three songs non-stop. Sam's back started acting up, Wayne couldn't bear the scorching heat, and Tim's legs were hurting from standing for too long.

"Alright, boys," Sam concluded their discussion on the third day. "We'll do one more day of this. Then I think we ought to rethink our plan…"

"Hey! Hey!" a tiny excited voice interrupted their conversation.

A little girl was standing wide-eyed, pointing at the big poster of Will. "That's Mr. Schumer! It really is him, isn't it?"

Sam was surprised by the child's excitement. "Yeah, it is. How do you know him, child?"

"He was the best music teacher we had in school! He taught us about rock music and even helped us start a band of our own!" the girl chirped, making the trio smile.

"Are you friends of his? And did he get better from his sickness? When is he coming back to teach us?" The girl's questions wouldn't end.

When nine-year-old Harriet learned about her favorite teacher's condition and his friends' idea of performing on the street, she couldn't wait to tell her friends.

She skipped away from the three older men with a bright idea in her mind.

The very next evening, while Will's friends were driving back from the park, they noticed the most heartening sight. A group of six schoolchildren was singing and playing the tambourine and the small keyboards right outside the school gate.

They, too, had put up a hand-drawn poster for Will and were calling their band "Little Hearts for Will."

"Who were these sweet little imposters?" The men wondered as they slowed down to listen to the music for a few minutes. At the center of the band, holding the microphone, was the same excited little girl belting out a Beatles song.

She spotted the three inspiring men, bowed to them with a smile, and continued singing.

That little girl and her five friends performing for their beloved teacher was all the inspiration the tired elderly men needed.

The following morning, Sam, Wayne, and Tim were back at their spot in the park, ready to perform with renewed energy. They played for days and managed to raise a decent amount of money though not nearly enough.

Until one day, they saw the incredible little girl for the third time. She was walking to their spot in the park. Only this time, she had come with the same group of five children who had performed with her, with each of their parents, and a bigger swarm of adults.

"Hi, Mr. Shumer's friends! We have something for you…" Harriet smiled and handed over an envelope.

The men stared at the unexpected gift in disbelief. It was a check for $50,000!

"All this money…from your school band?" Sam asked, looking at the kids' faces.

Harriet giggled and said, "Not just us kids, silly! The whole city! The whole city has raised this money for our Mr. Schumer…and your Will!"

The little girl explained that the kind folks of the neighborhood had been taking note of the two musician groups playing in public, and the news that Will needed money for surgery had spread like wildfire.

Moved by the stories and the heroic gestures of the older trio and the young kids, several youngsters got together and ran a citywide online fundraising campaign for Will.

The three retired men wept like little children as a crowd of over 300 people surrounded them with applause.

The money was more than enough to cover Will's life-saving surgery and smooth recovery. Three months later, there was another jamming session at the same dusty old garage. Only this time, there weren't just three jolly old men reminiscing the old days; there were all four.

What can we learn from this story?

• Do your part in kindness, and the universe will match it tenfold. Sam, Wayne, and Tim decided to take a small step toward helping Will, and they ended up creating a citywide campaign to support him.
• Children have a way of surprising us with the grandest of gestures. Harriet loved her teacher, and she surprised his elderly friends when she convinced her friends to help raise money for his treatment.

Share this story with your friends. It might brighten their day and inspire them.

If you enjoyed this story, you might like this one about another young child who tries to fix a pothole in front of his grandmother's house and ends up being noticed by a powerful businessman.

This piece is inspired by stories from the everyday lives of our readers and written by a professional writer. Any resemblance to actual names or locations is purely coincidental. All images are for illustration purposes only. Share your story with us; maybe it will change someone's life. If you would like to share your story, please send it to info@amomama.com.