Column: Her son needed someone to play catch with him. Her neighbor came through, and then some. A beautiful example of the best in us.

Thirteen-year-old Nikolas Jacob talks with Ashvin Lad while playing catch outside Blaine Elementary School on June 16, 2021, in Chicago. Jacob’s mother, Carmen Cruz, posted in a Lakeview neighborhood Facebook page to ask if anyone would play catch with her son and Lad jumped at the chance. (Armando L. Sanchez / Chicago Tribune)