"My heart is so full for you guys," said Rachael Fondren to the two Southgate police officers who took time in between runs Sunday morning to talk to her 11-year-old son, Gabriel White.
Fondren says Gabriel, who is autistic as a result of a rare genetic disorder, loves police officers because they're the "good guys." And Gabriel was so excited when he saw a Southgate Police scout car outside a Walmart, it caused him to have a seizure, according to Fondren.
What happened next brought a lot of joy to Gabriel and his mother.
Officer Nathan Mosczynski and Sergeant David Grondin asked Fondren if it was okay if they got Gabriel out of the sun and hung out with him inside the store as they let him pick out a toy - on them.
Mosczynski and Grondin say they just wanted to do something nice for Gabriel after Fondren shared a little about his medical condition with them.
Fondren shared the heartwarming story on the "Downriver and Friends" Facebook page and word got back to Officer Mosczynski and Sergeant Grondin about the impact their kind gesture left with the family.
And here's where it seems fate was at play.
As Sgt. Grondin was looking at a comment from Gabriel's father, thanking the officers, Grondin noticed he was wearing a unique ball cap.
Grondin thought it was so odd that he'd received an identical hat years ago as a thank you from a man to whom he showed kindness.
About three years ago, Grondin packed the hat up with some other belongings he thought others could use and he donated all of the items to Goodwill.
Sgt. Grondin asked Fondren where Gabriel's dad got the ball cap. She told him he picked it up at a thrift store a few years ago.
It turns out, it was the same hat that a stranger had given the nice sergeant years ago - leaving all involved to believe they were truly meant to cross paths on Sunday morning.
