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Elderly woman without internet asked librarian to look up her friends, what he found broke his heart

Fans praised a Chicago librarian who revealed in an emotional post that he helped an elderly patron find some obituaries because she hadn't heard from her pals in a while

Eddie Kristan, a Chicago librarian, shared his heartwrenching experience of helping an elderly patron look up obituaries of her high school friends. The beautifully sorrowful encounter has gone viral on Twitter, receiving more than 209K likes, 10K retweets, and 2K replies and quote-tweets.

"I had an elderly patron call who didn't have internet and ask me to look up some obituaries because she hadn't heard from her gang of high school friends for a while. I found them all. She cried. I cried. I hope I handled it gently enough for her," Kristan tweeted while sharing the encounter.

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"I talked to her for a bit and told her to come into the library and I'd print the tributes out for her or I can mail them to her. She had me read a few to her. It's a really s**t time to feel so lonely," he added. Netizens were quick to praise him for the support he provided the patron during the heartbreaking moment she realized all her high school friends were dead.

One user wrote, "Librarians are the crème of the crop man, fr. Thank you for your service." Another tweeted, "One more reason why if anyone comes for the librarians they'll have to go through me first." A third said, "When I say that my career in public libraries informs my holding elected office, I don't mean shelving books and reference questions. I mean connecting people in crisis to resources and sitting with them in dark places, like below. There is nothing quite like public libraries."

A fourth added, "Just one of the many ways libraries and librarians are pillars of communities. Bless Eddie's heart." A fifth felt, "I've said it before and I'll keep saying it: libraries and librarians are core and essential parts of communities." A sixth wrote, "Public libraries and public librarians are community treasures! Please support the public libraries in your areas! [x3 red heart emoji]." A seventh replied, "Librarians ROCK. They hold the world together."

While one user said, "Wow, this touched me deeply. Thank you for handling it with compassion and humanity @EddieKristan." Another felt, "Librarians do more than help you find a great book to read - as if that wasn't enough to make them magical." A third commented, "May your blessings be many! Thank you for taking the time! We need to take more time with our elders and celebrate their many contributions to this society we all share..."

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Kristan, who was homeschooled in Gurnee, Illinois, works as a safety and security supervisor at the Warren-Newport Public Library. "The library provided me with books and a safe place to read and watch media," he told Library Journal. "I love my job. It can be crazy, but the people here are my family. And because I've been able to be a part of the positive mission of the library instead of just the reactive mission of security, I wouldn't want to do anything else," Kristan added.

This article contains remarks made on the Internet by individual people and organizations. MEAWW cannot confirm them independently and does not support claims or opinions being made online.