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Recently, the Hayfield community suffered a heartbreaking blow with the death of Macy Holtan, a sophomore at Hayfield High School, who was killed in a car crash on her way to school.

Hayfield is a caring community, oftentimes reaching out a hand to help its neighbors and we imagine that right now arms are embracing neighbors as the loss of Holtan continues to sink in.

However, others outside the community are offering their embrace as well and that was on display Tuesday night when the Blooming Prairie girls basketball team, facing Hayfield in Hayfield, reached out to Holtan’s teammates, friends and family.

Before the game, the BP girls offered flowers, candies and hugs to their counterparts in blue.

BP knows loss, having lost teacher Rachel Harberts and her daughter Emerson Harberts in a crash in 2018.

At that point Hayfield came to Blooming Prairie’s side in a time of loss.

The heart of this story is two communities, led by their children, coming to comfort each other in times of hardship. This message can’t be overlooked and the heartfelt caring should be a lesson to all that caring counts.

“I didn’t really know (Macy), but I knew of her. I 100 percent felt for them with some of the stuff we went through with the Harberts,” said Blooming Prairie’s Bobbie Bruns. “It’s a heartbreaking experience and I know flowers and candy isn’t going to make up for it, but we did whatever we could to make them feel better in any way. It really goes to show in times like this how close we are and we always have each other’s back when times get tough.”

For the rest of us, that’s a strong sign of the future and that caring can grow good things and understanding.

We commend these students from both Hayfield and Blooming Prairie for this moment of love. From this gesture comes two strong communities that demonstrate they will be there for each other.