COLUMBUS, Ind. — Ethan Reynolds is not much different than any other 11-year-old. He loves to get out and ride his bike, but about a month ago his mom noticed he was out longer than usual.
As it turns out Ethan had made a new friend.
"If I don't see the young man when I leave, he will be here when I get back," neighbor Donald Spurgeon said.
Spurgeon visits his wife Betty's grave every day and then sets aside a little time to visit with Ethan. The two had struck up a friendship.
"It was an older gentleman," Jessica Reynolds, Ethan's mom said. "I just was not expecting it. It was neat."
Spurgeon said Ethan visits every day.
"If we need to go to Rural King, we go to Rural King. If we need to go to Walmart, we go to Walmart," Spurgeon said. "Wherever I go he goes. He goes with me. He keeps me out of trouble."
Ethan doesn't always need his bike to make friends. He also has his own 24- hour food pantry — Ethan's Table.
He said he does it to bring happiness to people.
"See their face when they see all the food and ask how much and then see the joy on their face," Ethan said.
Jessica is on furlough from her restaurant job and when they went to a local food pantry they experienced the long lines for themselves. So they started their own.
"The table can be $50 to $100 a day and it can clear out in a day easily," Jessica said.
That is a lot for an 11-year-old boy who has been the victim of bullying, but that is why his mother believes he has gravitated toward helping older people.
"Ethan's also an old soul," Rebecca said.
He's 11, Spurgeon is 91 — an 80-year difference.
"Why do you think you get along so well?" 13News Reporter Kevin Rader asked.
"We don't argue, do we?" Spurgeon said. "We just decide we are going to do something and if he don't like it we forget about it. If he likes it we do it."
They are just two old souls who have found solace in helping others and in one another.