“We all knew about it, and were praying and in touch with his folks,” said Witmer, 56, who has lived in the same house in Hadley Farms since 2001.
Kevin and his sister were around the same age as Witmer’s son and daughter, and they all swam together at their local swim club. While the kids played, the parents socialized.
“We became friends,” Witmer said of Kevin’s family. “They’re just the nicest people in the world.”
That year, Kevin’s doctors told him he could spend Christmas at home. Witmer, who had already become known in the neighborhood for his festive light display, decided to add a special shout-out to Kevin, in the hope that it would cheer him up.
Witmer wrote “Get Well Kevin” in colorful letters above his garage.
“I was just trying to be a nice dad in the neighborhood,” he said. “It was such a small gesture.”
But to Kevin’s family, it was very meaningful. They were delighted, Witmer said, and Kevin earnestly asked if Witmer would put his name in lights every year.
“I was like, ‘how could I not?’” Witmer recalled.
The following year, he shifted the sign from “Get Well Kevin” to “Hi Kevin.” To make it exciting for the boy, Witmer painted “Hi Kevin” on scrap pieces of wood, then hid them around his Christmas display. Every year, Kevin would try to spot them. It became a fun game between the two of them.
“He was such a cool kid,” said Witmer. “He could talk to anybody. Even with his cancer, he would never let it get to him or get him down.”
When Kevin’s cancer eventually went into remission, “I continued the tribute,” Witmer said.
Sadly, though, after Kevin completed his freshman year at the University of Maryland, his cancer came back “harder and stronger,” Witmer said. “That’s what eventually took him.”
He died in June 2010, and Witmer spoke at his funeral — at the request of Kevin’s parents.
In his speech, Witmer vowed to make his annual “Hi Kevin” display bigger than ever, so that his beloved neighbor could see it from heaven. Witmer kept his promise.
Every year since, he has included Kevin in his Christmas display. His heart swells when Kevin’s family and friends stop by to see it.
“Thank you for keeping his memory alive,” they tell Witmer, who still keeps in touch with Kevin’s family, although they no longer live in the neighborhood, he said. “That response is more incentive to keep doing it.”
In past years, Witmer has shared the “Hi Kevin” story on social media, but this year it got unprecedented attention.
“Maybe the world just needed it,” he said.
In a Facebook post on Dec. 7, he chronicled the touching tale.
“Maybe someone will read this story and take a smile away from it,” he remembered thinking. “That’s all I can hope.”
“I don’t know what’s hardest to believe,” Witmer wrote in the post. “That he’s been gone for 12 years or that I’ve been including his name in my display for 20 years now.”
“Either way,” he continued, “I love sharing this story.”
Comments poured in — most of which were from strangers around the world, expressing gratitude for the soul-affirming story. Witmer has read each one — and responded to many.
“This is one of the most beautiful tributes I’ve ever read,” one person wrote.
“Bawling like a baby, what a very special story,” another commenter added. “Thank you for sharing it, and for your lovely heart.”
Witmer is stunned by the response.
“The reaction is just overwhelming in such a good way,” he said, adding that Kevin’s family is not ready to talk publicly about their son. “It’s been humbling.”
Witmer’s greatest wish, he said, “is for people to see that it’s always the small things that mean the most.”
