Unexpected friendships are often the best kind. Look no further than 11-year-old little leaguer Ty Barber and 96-year-old WWII veteran Richard Snethen.

Last fall, the two were seated in the same section at a Buffalo Bisons game. Barber was wearing his baseball mitt and Snethen, a former 2nd Lieutenant in the U.S. Army, was in full uniform.

Between innings, the team’s first baseman threw Barber a ball so he could bring it home. However, the boy thought the souvenir would be more appreciated by the stranger in uniform. So, Barber gave Snethen the ball after the game was over.

“I’m trying to be a role model,” Berber later told WGRZ. “And, we really have to honor our veterans.”

Snethen was floored by the boy’s selflessness.

“That was the most moving thing,” he said. “One of the treasured moments of my life, to tell you the truth. It makes you really feel like there is some hope for America.”

Then Snethen went home and wrote a poem about the moving experience.

Ty Barber caught the fielder’s ball,
Holding it close ’til the game was over.
Then, with a hug and a beaming smile,
He gave his prize ball to a WWII vet on the aisle,
The “Greatest Generation” is now being challenged
By a yet to be named generation.The Bisons won, six to two
And both Ty and I – WON TOO!

He framed the poem and put it next to his cherished baseball.

But, that’s not the end of the story. Once the Bisons heard about the exchange, they invited Snethen and Barber back to the stadium two months later to catch a game together, where the two were honored on the video board in center field, and the crowd gave them a standing ovation.

Not only that, but Snethen gave Barber a framed copy of the poem he had written.

An 85-year age gap doesn’t mean a thing when it comes to having a good heart.