Cecily Knobler

There are moments of kindness that miraculously can stretch into a lifetime. Such was the case for nearly 30-year-old Ronnie after he knocked on Rob and Dianne's door one Christmas Day in the UK.

Picture this: the year is 1975. It's Christmas in Cardiff, Wales, and a young man named Ronnie Lockwood gives a rap, tap, tap on a door. Rob and Dianne Parsons answer to see him holding a trash bag full of his belongings in one hand, and a "frozen chicken" in the other.

On the BBC Wales News Instagram page, the question is posed: "Could you imagine inviting a stranger into your home on Christmas Day?" We see a clip of Rob, who explains, "Near Christmas, there's this knock. And I open the door and there's a homeless man standing there. And we invite him in, and Dianne made him a meal. And she said to me, 'Ask him to stay tonight, it's Christmas.' And he never left. He lived with us for 45 years."

Throughout the lovely clip, we see photographs of Ronnie looking dapper and right at home with the Parsons family. Rob continues, "He got a job as a dustman, as I was a lawyer at the time. And Dianne says to me, 'Make sure he gets to work on time.' So she used to make me get up an extra hour early. And I used to drop him off at the dust yard, and then I'd go into the law practice. And I'd get home at night, and he'd be sat in a chair very often, just smiling. And I said to him one night, 'Ronnie, what amuses you so much?' He said, 'Rob, when you take me to work in the mornings, the other men say who's that bringing you to work in the car? And I say, Oh, that's my solicitor.'"

Both Rob and Dianne let out a healthy laugh. "And Di and I have talked a lot about that. We don't think he was proud to be taken to work by a lawyer. But we think maybe that he never had someone take him first day of school. He never, perhaps, had somebody say when he was 11, 'How did it go in the big school today, son?' And now he's almost 30, and at last somebody's at the gate."

The Instagram post notes that "Ronnie, who was autistic and alone, ended up staying for 45 years and changed the lives of Rob, Dianne, and their children forever."

Rob has been telling this story for a while now and wound up writing about their experience together in a book called A Knock at the Door. But for those who didn't know, the recent clips on social media are moving hundreds of thousands to their core. One person writes, "Some angels live on earth. These angels are called Rob and Dianne." Another writes, in part, "What amazing people. This is the real spirit of Christmas."

Lovingly, Rob and Dianne's niece Rachel Hurley adds in the comments, "This is my auntie Di and uncle Rob. Robbie was so loved by us all and a huge part of our family. He used to come to my nan's every Saturday for a cooked breakfast and read the papers with my grampy."

Hundreds reply to this comment alone, many with follow-up questions about Ronnie's life now. Rachel answers, "He lived with them until he died in 2020 of complications after a stroke. He was 75." To this, many send well wishes to remind the entire family how kindhearted they are.

Another friend of the family, Daf Matheson, adds a personal anecdote, "Whilst Ronnie was living there, Rob and Di let my family live with them for a few months. Robbie was shown so much love and dignity. He would always say hello to everyone he saw and then roll up his sleeves to help anyone he could. I certainly learnt a lot from all three of them!"

Upworthy had a chance to follow-up with Matheson, who shared beautiful memories of his time living with the family. "I've known the Parsons and Ronnie ever since I was born. As a child, my family stayed with the Parsons for what was meant to be a few weeks while our house was having some work done, but we ended up staying for a few months. Ronnie was living there at the time and had been there for many years. Ronnie was always really friendly and I only ever had fond memories."

He even remembers the tiny details that help weave the fabric of a family. "He would head out for work before we headed to school and would say hello when we came back. We would play darts, talk football and I just saw him as part of the Parsons family. After we moved back into our home, I would see Ronnie every week at church. He would always greet me with a smile, a high five, ask how I was doing and then crack on with putting out chairs for people. Aged 15, I played my first game for Ronnie’s charity football game. No one loved Boxing Day more than Ronnie. I’ll always remember asking him every month if I could be the team’s penalty taker and then seeing the joy on his face as he’d reply 'No chance!'"

Matheson continues to heap praise on the Parson family. "With regard to Rob and Di. I’ve always seen them as unofficial Godparents. Rob would tell me a story almost every day that we stayed with them and Di continues to be one of the funniest and most caring people I know. It’s hard to comprehend how generous they are because it is so unusual. They showed Ronnie love, which I imagine was a rare experience for him, but they also gave him dignity, independence and also the opportunity for him to be generous too."

Many others share heartwarming stories of their own wherein they took in vulnerable people, and many feel inspired to do so in the future. In fact, Ronnie himself was inspired to help the vulnerable. In another interview, Rob shares the time that Ronnie came home wearing no shoes. When asked what happened, he said, "I gave them to some homeless guy."

- Rob Parson's shares how a homeless man came to live with his family. www.youtube.com, Premier on Demand

As if the story could get more heartwarming, in Charlie Buckland's more extended piece for the BBC, he further explains that Rob "vaguely remembered Ronnie, someone he would occasionally see at Sunday School as a boy and who he was told to be kind to as he was a 'bit different.'"

He adds, "Ronnie was then almost 30 and had been without a home from the age of 15, living in and around Cardiff and moving from job to job — Rob would sometimes see him at a youth club he ran. To make him feel as welcome as possible, they asked their family to bring him a gift for Christmas, anything from a pair of socks to some 'smellies.'"

Dianne shares in the interview, "I can remember him now. He was sat at the Christmas table and he had these presents, and he cried because he'd never known that sort of feeling of love, you know. It was incredible, really, to watch."