So last summer I randomly met this 80-year-old woman through an online game of Words With Friends. It started like most online gaming interactions—anonymous, transactional, focused on the game. Two random people matched up. Playing words. Trying to win. That’s it. That’s all it was supposed to be. But then they started chatting. Small talk at first. Comments about good plays. Acknowledgment of particularly clever words. The kind of friendly banter that sometimes happens between strangers playing online games.
We played 300+ games together and through all the matches and chats she actually became a really good friend of mine. Three hundred games. That’s not casual. That’s commitment. That’s showing up consistently over months. And somewhere in those 300 games, between the word plays and the chats, something shifted. She stopped being a random opponent and became someone he looked forward to hearing from. Someone whose messages made him smile. Someone he genuinely cared about.
We laughed, shared stories, and stayed in touch all year. They talked about their lives. She shared stories from eight decades of living. He shared stories from his much younger perspective. They laughed about words. About life. About the absurdity of becoming friends through a phone game. And they stayed in touch. Not just when playing. But throughout the day. Throughout the year. Regular check-ins. How are you doing? What’s happening in your life? The kind of consistent contact that marks real friendship, not just gaming acquaintance.
Today I finally got to fly to Florida and meet her in person, and it was one of the most heartwarming moments I’ve ever had. After a year of chatting through screens. After 300 games played from different states. After building a genuine friendship through an app designed just to play word games. They met. Face to face. In person. And it was everything. The photos show him hugging this elderly woman. Both of them beaming. The kind of smiles that say this is real. This matters. This friendship that started in the most unlikely way has become something beautiful and important.
The age gap alone makes this remarkable. He’s young. She’s 80. They have nothing in common demographically. Live in different states. Come from different generations. Have different life experiences and cultural references. By all conventional logic, they shouldn’t have become friends. But friendship doesn’t follow conventional logic. It follows connection. And they connected. Found common ground in words and humor and conversations that transcended their differences.
The fact that they maintained this friendship for a year before meeting in person is significant. This wasn’t a quick meetup. This was a year of consistent communication. Of building trust. Of becoming people who matter to each other. And then, when the opportunity arose, he flew to Florida. Made the trip. Prioritized this meeting. Because this friendship was worth it. This 80-year-old woman he’d met playing a phone game was worth flying across the country to hug.
The photos capture something special. The genuine joy. The warmth of the embrace. The way they’re both smiling like they’ve known each other forever. Because in a way, they have. They’ve spent a year getting to know each other. Sharing stories. Being present in each other’s lives. And now they’re finally meeting in person. Finally getting to hug. Finally getting to be in the same physical space instead of just digital space.
This story reminds us that friendship can come from anywhere. From the most unexpected places. From phone games and random matches and conversations that start with small talk and somehow become real. That age doesn’t matter. Geography doesn’t matter. The medium doesn’t matter. What matters is connection. Consistency. Caring about each other. Showing up. And these two did that. For a year. Through 300 games and countless chats and the decision to finally meet in person.
Thank you to this young man for seeing an 80-year-old woman as a potential friend. For not dismissing her because of age. For taking the time to chat. To play 300 games. To build a relationship that mattered enough to fly to Florida for. And thank you to this woman for being open to friendship with someone decades younger. For being someone worth knowing. For showing us all that connection doesn’t require similarity. It just requires openness and kindness and the willingness to see another person as worth your time.
This is what the internet can be at its best. Not isolation. Not superficial connections. But real friendships formed in unexpected ways. Two people from different generations and different states who met playing Words With Friends and became actual friends. Who cared enough to stay in touch. To share their lives. To finally meet in person and hug like the friends they’d become. That’s beautiful. That’s hopeful. And that’s exactly what the world needs more of.