A woman's TikTok video went viral thanks to her compassionate response to a neighbor, whose father was just diagnosed with cancer, requesting that she remove her Halloween decorations.
Salena Webb from Duncan, South Carolina, is a mother of four, with baby number five on the way, who posts gardening and family content on her TikTok page.
She loves Halloween and she started celebrating the macabre holiday early in September with decorations in front of her home that included a graveyard with cardboard headstones and two skeletons carrying a casket.
"My family knows i loveeee Halloween and my decorations took me awhile to make and put up," she wrote in the caption for the viral TikTok.
"I had just [purchased] the skeleton carrying the casket to go along with my graveyard to really set my halloween decor off this year."
But she made some changes after the adult son of her two elderly Russian neighbors paid her a visit on Wednesday.
Webb told Insider she has a good relationship with the couple, who live across the street but can barely speak English.
She recalled of the son's visit:
"He starts to tell me that his father was diagnosed with lung cancer. And then he started to talk about my Halloween decorations."
"I'm like, 'What do my decorations really have to do with this?'"
When he asked her to specifically remove the casket held by the two skeletons, she realized:
"This guy is dealing with mortality."
Webb told the outlet that it was a "no-brainer" to remove the macabre display, which was visible from the neighbor's garage across the street, where the dad often hangs out.
She then went further by deciding to remove the fake tombstones as well.
Webb said:
"I am a constant reminder of what could possibly happen if he does not kick cancer's a** and I don't want to cause that stress to someone else."
Webb shared the Ring surveillance footage showing their interaction with a text overlay asking readers:
"What would you do?"
"We took it down because kindness is free," she explained.
Her TikTok went viral with 1.2 million views within a week.
The decoration has been modified, with the skeletons holding badminton rackets instead, which allows her to enjoy the holiday. The more "morbid" items were moved to the backyard.
Webb posted another video in response to a viewer who wanted to see the display prior to its removal.
She wrote in the caption:
"Maybe some can now understand why they were a little touchy about it and at night theres fog that i have come out from it."
"so i get it.."
"I'm a little sad about it, but it's not about me in this moment," she said after removing the decoration.
"There's always next year for me."
People were moved by the gentle manner in which the situation was handled by both parties.
@thatsnorthsense/TikTok
@thatsnorthsense/TikTok
Many thought the positive interaction was refreshing when neighborly disputes tend to proliferate more on the internet.
@thatsnorthsense/TikTok
@thatsnorthsense/TikTok
@thatsnorthsense/TikTok
@thatsnorthsense/TikTok
@thatsnorthsense/TikTok
@thatsnorthsense/TikTok
@thatsnorthsense/TikTok
After the video went viral, Webb said she went over to her neighbors and gave them a card and balloons to assure them she was happy to accommodate their request.
And while there may have been a language barrier, Webb said the man was grateful for the gesture and told her:
"You're good people."