Being a parent means going above and beyond for your child’s well-being. Sometimes, it involves learning school subjects in order to be able to help them with their school work and tests, and that is exactly one father named Corey Simmons did.
Corey was on the subway holding a bunch of papers in his hands. Another passenger, Denise Wilson, who was sitting opposite him, could tell by the look of his face that Corey was sort of confused. She could see the papers were filled with numbers so she just assumed he was a teacher going through his students’ papers. But that was far from reality. In fact, Corey was studying fractions because his son struggled understanding how they worked and failed his test.
A couple of minutes later, another man, who had also noticed the confused look on Corey’s face, sat next to him and offered to help. He took some time to explain how fractions worked and some other math rules. In order to be sure that Corey understood the material, he even quizzed him a couple of times.
“I overheard the conversation and Corey saying that his son failed a math test and he was relearning math so he could help his son and that he hadn’t done fractions in years,” Denise said.
Watching how a complete stranger offered help to this father made Denis deeply touched. For once, she admired Corey’s dedication as a father, and she also loved the fact that this other man stepped up.
Speaking to Inside Edition, Denise said,“He was explaining to him the things he got wrong and breaking it down to him so he could get a better understanding. I had to capture that moment because it was too heartwarming. It was amazing to me.”
“I was like ‘wow’ because I feel like a lot of dads don’t get enough credit and in our community there is not a lot of active fathers and for him to make the effort to relearn math touched my heart,” she added.
Believing this encounter of two strangers was a true definition of humanity and being there for one another, she decided to snap a photo she later shared on Facebook. To her surprise, it caught the attention of over 155K people.
In a follow-up post, she wrote, “I really just wanted to shine light on hard working hands on fathers, they go unnoticed, I really want to let the active fathers out there know you’re more powerful than you may think you are. Also to shine light on our city NY is not what people make it seem to be, we really do care about each other, we really hold each other up.”
Corey explained that the man who helped him was a retired teacher, but he didn’t take his name. He then added, “It’s been around thirty years I would say, since I did fractions. It doesn’t matter if you fail, it’s what you do after you fail,” he told his son, as per CBS New York.
“You need help sometimes, and you shouldn’t want to bite your tongue to not ask for help. So don’t feel shy to ask someone for help, it’s okay. I got a better understanding [of the math] and was able to relate it to my son.”
This story is the perfect example that we as humans should watch each others backs and be there for one another, although we may be perfect strangers.
For more go to the video below.