Soldiers return the love to ailing Fort Hood 'hug lady' in her time of need

Updated


Here's your feel good story for the day.

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Meet 83-year-old Elizabeth Laird, who just may be the sweetest lady in the entire world. This kind soul from Copperas Cove, Texas has greeted nearly every soldier that has passed through Fort Hood since 2003.



Now, over 12 years later, Laird estimates that she has given out over 500,000 hugs to soldiers; both seeing them off and welcoming them back.

%shareLinks-quote="They tell me how much my hug meant to them and how they'll never forget it." type="quote" author="Elizabeth Laird" authordesc="TODAY" isquoteoftheday="false"%

Sadly, Laird was hospitalized recently due to complications from the breast cancer she has been fighting since 2005. But of course, she was not alone.

When word reached Fort Hood that their biggest cheerleader was in the hospital, soldiers rushed to her bedside to return the favor and give her a hug.

"They tell me how much my hug meant to them and how they'll never forget it." #ShareKindness

Posted by NBC News on Friday, November 20, 2015



How heartwarming? Elizabeth Laird has touched the lives of so many, that when her son created a GoFundMe page for her expensive medical bills, thousands reached out to help. To date, over 3,000 people have donated nearly $93,000!

We wish Laird a speedy recovery, so she can continue making hundreds of thousands of soldiers' days better and brighter.

See the emotional moment when this little girl hugs her dad before military ceremony ends:

Little Girl Hugs Dad Before Military Ceremony Ends
Little Girl Hugs Dad Before Military Ceremony Ends


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