Unexpected friendship between a 10-year-old and 92-year-old develops out of pandemic

RAPID CITY, S.D. — The vast difference in age between Maggie and Merrie doesn’t stop them from enjoying each others company.

Their unexpected friendship began at the beginning of the pandemic last year when many places shut down. Both Maggie and Merrie were getting outside to get fresh air.

92-year-old Merrie Miller says, “I walk every day; I’ve walked for years and years and this person started riding her bike around me (do you remember that? – yes) and she was riding her bike around and pretty soon we begin to talk, pretty soon she said she was going to take her bike home and she and I started walking together from then on.”

Anne and Mark Roisum, Maggie’s parents, say, “She started talking about her friend Merrie and initially I thought it was one of the little girls down the street, a granddaughter, and one day she said no, Merrie is 92! Maggie needed Merrie and Merrie needed Maggie and they both fulfilled something with each other.”

They walked on a regular basis last year and now that Maggie is back in school, they schedule times to meet up to get some steps in.

Merrie adds, “I heard this doctor on TV the other day saying, the best thing you can do for you health (mental health also) is to walk, get out and walk everyday and he said it is better if you walk with someone and I thought we didn’t have any degrees in medicine and we knew that – didn’t we?”

Mark says many people in the neighborhood have expressed their joy on seeing the two together, “You know with the whole last year with coronavirus and all the craziness happening with racial tension and all that – we just saw Merrie and Maggie and their relationship and we thought it was a great thing that came out of this.”

Merrie and Maggie share a special kind of relationship – Merrie gifted Maggie a sterling silver ring that she has had for many years.

Maggie says, “She gave me this ring and she got it when she was 12 I’m pretty sure from her friend and then she gave it to me (yeah, cause we’re friends).”