A little boy and a little girl who grew up together in a Chinese orphanage shared a tear-jerking reunion an ocean away from where their friendship began.
Four-year-old Hannah was adopted from China by the Sykes family in north Texas.
As the Sykes were going over Hannah's adoption materials, they noticed that in nearly every picture, Hannah was holding hands or playing with the same little boy.
Sharon Sykes, Hannah's mom, learned that he was her best friend. The two shared a weekend foster mother and even called each other brother and sister.
The Sykes were determined to find the little boy his own home, and after posting about him on Facebook, a couple from the same area, the Clarys, decided to make him part of their family. They named him Dawson.
"Once we met him and saw the interaction in the orphanage, it was heartbreaking," Sharon Sykes told HLN on Thursday. "I didn't sleep that whole night, thinking, 'Oh my gosh, we have to find him a family.'"
Added her husband, Andy, "I couldn't believe how quick it happened, and Sharon, I give my beautiful wife here a lot of credit because she really spent a lot of time and used social media as an outlet to find the little guy a home."
That home included not only a mother and father but three siblings as well.
When the Sykes and Clarys reunited the little friends after 11 months apart, their meeting at the Dallas-Fort Worth airport couldn't have been more beautiful.
"They must have hugged 400 times! They kept hugging and getting so giddy that they would fall over," Dawson's mom Amy Clary told KTVT.
By chance, or by an act of love, the two children who were toddlers together now live five minutes apart. They are delighted every time they see each other. Dawson's dad, Chris Clary, calls their connection "priceless."
It seems their parents have made pals, too. The families have hung out every day since Amy returned from China last week, her husband told HLN.
"Ever since we've met the Clarys, we're now like best friends," Sharon Sykes said, "and (Hannah and Dawson) will be seeing each other on a regular basis -- at least weekly, if not more."
