When Kensey Stasica took to Facebook hoping to find the parents of a young girl her 3-year-old son befriended at a suburban museum, she never expected the response she would receive.
It all started when she took her family to the DuPage Children's Museum in Naperville on March 26.
"I think it was like the third time we've been to the museum," she said. "We have our membership there, so we go quite frequently. Both our boys like love the museum."
While they were there, her son Beau "met his match," she said.
"He was playing with one of the toys and this little girl introduced herself and they were kind of just playing together very well and they must have taken to each other because she grabbed his hands and they were just holding hands around the museum everywhere," Stasica said. "They were holding hands and he was like, 'This is my new...This is my friend mommy, it's my friend Ava.' And they just did that for about half an hour."
But eventually, naptime arrived and it was time to go home.
"We said our goodbyes and I didn't think much of it. I was just like, 'He made a friend.' No big deal. I didn't think he would even remember her. But every time we put him down at night, I always say, 'Beau did you have a good day today?' And it was always, 'Yes mommy. I had such a good day. Let's go to the museum tomorrow we will see Ava.' I was just like, 'I don't know if we're gonna see Ava again. You know, like sometimes we make friends and we don't see them again.' And he was like, 'But mommy, like it was my friend. We held hands. We were on the boat. We were on the pirate ship. We loved the pirate ship. I mean, it was my best friend.'"
When her son continued to ask to see his new friend Ava, Stasica decided to try something.
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"I think it was like the third night. I was like, 'You know what, I'm in a bunch of mom groups. What's it gonna hurt if I just make a post?'"
And so she did.
"If you have a 3 year old named Ava, and were at the DuPage Children's Museum [on March 26]. And she held (dragged) a little boy's hand around for quite some time. That little boy is now infatuated and will not stop talking about his friend," she wrote in the group Oswego Moms IL Unite. "Every night he talks about her and how he wants to play again. And is heartbroken when I tell him that I'm not sure that will happen. So, I think your name is Maggie. I'm literally guessing at this point. But if this sounds familiar. You'd make my child's year if you wanted to have a playdate at the museum again sometime."
Stasica added that her husband believes the young girl's father may have been named Jason.
"We kind of talked to their parents a tiny bit, but obviously you're watching your children making sure we don't lose them because they're flight risks, you know. They run everywhere," she said. "So I was like, what's the chance that maybe we'll catch up with them? I honestly have no idea where at what town they live in. That was the first time they were at the museum. So I made the post and it blew up."
The post was quickly being shared in groups across the Chicago area.
"I was so surprised," Stasica said. "People were like, 'Well, I'm a nanny and I'm in this group and the Naperville group, do you mind if I post it there?' I'm like, 'Yeah, sure fine, it's not gonna hurt anything. And then I kept seeing like, 'I saw your posts in this group,' 'I saw your posts in this group,' 'I posted it here for you' and it blew up."
Stasica even made a TikTok to get the word out on another platform.
But despite all the attention, she still has not found Ava.
"If he never finds her that's okay. But I I think it's a sweet story to tell him when he gets older, especially because he's just he wants to find his friend. He just he misses his friend," she said, adding that she took Beau back to the museum, where he drew a picture for Ava and left it for her in case she returned.
Stasica said some good has also come from the posts.
"Some parents have reached out and they're like, 'I have a little boy or little girl,' and like, 'I'm a new mom' or 'I just moved here and we would love to like meet up and have a playdate.' So even if we never see the little girl again, I think Beau has made an impact where like he can meet some other little kids and maybe make some other new friends."
As for the parents of the young girl her son is looking for, she has one message.
"I just think they've raised such a sweet little girl," Stasica said. "Both of our children just took to each other and you could just tell they were having such a good time and it's just so sweet how children react to each other and how like, innocent they are. And I just think that like us as adults just should watch how our children react. And it's... they don't see how like, 'Oh, this little girl was one skin color' or it's a boy versus a girl and how their parents look, it's just like, they're just having fun and they just want to enjoy each other. So, I mean, if they obviously never see each other ever again, I mean, she made an impact on his life. And I honestly think he's also opened up more and ... every time we go somewhere he's just he says like, 'Oh Mommy, I'm gonna go make friends,' or, but I told him, 'Oh, you might not see her ever again, honey. Sometimes your friends come in your life and then you never see them again and that's okay.' He said, 'Don't worry mommy, I can always make new friends.'"
If the parents of the young girl happen to read this story, Stasica has requested they reach out to her on Facebook.
