It is an unfortunate time to have the name "Corona."
People aren't even drinking the beer.
Even worse, some people have the word as their first name.
An eight-year-old boy named Corona De Vries, from Australia's Gold Coast, wrote to Tom Hanks after finding out he and wife, Rita Wilson, were diagnosed with the virus while involved in a project on the Gold Coast.
He wrote to wish Hanks well, but in the end revealed a sad reality of his own life:
"I love my name but at school people call me the [virus]...I get very sad and angry when people call me this."
Hanks, moved by this, sent a letter back promptly.
In the letter Hanks says the boy made he and his wife "feel so wonderful," and goes about highlighting the other definitions of the boy's name:
"...like the ring around the sun, a crown."
In addition to the kind words he typed, Hanks also gifted the little boy his typewriter.
"I thought this typewriter would suit you," Hanks wrote.
"I had taken it to the Gold Coast, and now, it is back – with you...Ask a grown up how it works. And use it to write me back."
He signed off with his classic Toy Story phrase:
"P.S. You Got A Friend In Me!"
Hanks once again offers us a spot of brightness in a dark time.
He and wife Rita Wilson, who recovered from the virus, donated their blood to aid development of a vaccine for the virus.
It may turn out Tom Hanks will save the world, one typewriter and blood donation at a time.
The Tom Hanks film California Typewriter is available here.
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