We often find happiness in the most unexpected places. The same was the case for a teenager from Okhlama who stumbled upon it after falling in love with an apartment.
19-year-old Madison Kohout had been living in her new apartment in Arkansas for a week before she made the bizarre discovery that she’d accidentally moved into an old people’s home.
“I was looking around at my surroundings to see what there was I could do here, and I saw the sign that said ‘Senior Living Apartments,’ and I realized I moved myself into a retirement community,” the 19-year-old told The New York Times. “Once I saw the sign, all the things clicked. I was like, ‘Oh, my goodness, I can’t believe I did this.'”
Madison’s move to Arkansas came about a year after she formed a connection online with Lori Parker of Piggott, a TikToker who describes herself as “a Preacher’s wife, Mom, and Nonna” to her over 65,000 followers.
The two quickly developed a rapport on the social media platform by commenting back and forth on the videos they shared. “She just touched my heart,” Parker said of Madison. “I felt like I’ve known her for a long time.” After leaving home at the age of 17 following a childhood that she described as one with “a lot of challenges,” Madison reportedly grew up supporting herself.
Parker invited her to her family Thanksgiving, but Kohout couldn’t make it. She eventually traveled to Arkansas in February to meet Parker in person.
“I just fell in love with her family, and they were so good to me,” Kohout said.
According to AWM:
Kohout made it to Piggott from Norman, Oklahoma, in March and started hunting for apartments online. When she found the perfect apartment and signed the lease, she had no idea it was a senior living complex.
“She knew I was 19 but never said anything,” Kohout said of the landlord. “The landlord really liked me.”
Although the apartment was designed for seniors, it was “equal-opportunity housing” and therefore available to her.
Since become TikTok famous, Kohout has shared her videos with neighbors. Now she has new friends – although they’re more than three times her age.
“It’s like having extra sets of grandparents,” Kohout said. One neighbor, in particular, has become a friend. “It’s fun to see how she persevered through her life challenges. We relate a lot, even though she’s, like, 50 years older than I am.”
Watch her interview below:
Sources: AWM, New York Times