A young girl and an employee at a Florida Publix are in the spotlight again after they were able to reunite following two years of separation.
Fiona, now 6, was able to give her friend Gilnet or “High Five” as she lovingly calls him, a big huge to make up for lost time.
It all began when Fiona was a little girl. She and her mother Rachel Smith would go grocery shopping every Saturday at a Publix in Fort Myers, Florida.
The two met Gilnet, a moment he says he’ll never forget.
“I’ll always remember that moment,” he told NBC 2 News.
“From the moment I first brought her to the store, Gilnet was always excited to see her. I noticed her beginning to recognize him, and then eventually going out of her way to look for him,” Rachel told Good Morning America.
“One of their first interactions was him trying to teach her a high five. For a while, she couldn’t pick it up. But then one day, she figured it out. Then she started referring to him as ‘High Five.’ We’d show up at the store, and she’d sputter out an excited, ‘hi fi’ and tear off looking for him.”
The two quickly formed an unlikely friendship.
When Fiona turned three years old in 2019, Gilnet purchased Fiona her first bicycle.
“She loved it so much and wanted to say thanks to him by giving him some pictures of her riding it,” Rachel said.
Fiona made him a thank you card and hand-delivered it to him at work.
But not long after the pandemic struck and everything closed down, which put their weekly visits on hold.
During that time he transferred stores and the Smiths lost touch, but recently they were able to locate him and Fiona and Gilnet were able to reunite.
The two reunited outside of Gilnet’s new store in Cape Coral.
Gilnet asked Fiona if she remembered him, and the now 6-year-old replied “Yes!”
Isn’t their friendship the cutest?! I love these two.
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