Eight-year-old Madeline Glynn folded a piece of paper, wrote a note, and changed two families forever. But the biggest surprise was still coming.
LAKEWOOD, Ohio — Last month, 8-year-old Madeline Glynn of Lakewood, Ohio, heard music coming from next door. Her neighbor was on his porch, playing guitar.
She wanted to make a request, but she didn’t want to just walk into his backyard uninvited. So she folded a piece of paper into an airplane, wrote a note inside, and sent it flying over the fence.
On the other side was Ethan Hayes, a 26-year-old full-time musician who had moved in last September. He spotted something in the yard. His neighbor Russ came to the window to explain: The note was from Madeline, Russ’ stepdaughter. She wanted to hear Taylor Swift.
Hayes played “Love Story.” He needed to look up the words; Madeline sang every single one, and her mom, Natalie, had her phone out the whole time.
Nearly 4 million people have watched what happened next.
“I truly thought it was going to die out after that week,” Natalie said, “and it’s been ongoing for like over a month now.”
The story landed in People Magazine, on “The Today Show.” Madeline’s teacher started delivering the news before her mom could.
“Madeline will go into class, and Ms. Perez, her teacher, will be like, ‘Madeline, I just saw you on ‘The Today Show,'” Natalie said.
But the biggest surprise was still coming, and for weeks, Hayes knew it.
Taylor Swift’s team, Taylor Nation, had seen the video. They reached out to Hayes directly — and asked him to keep it quiet.
“The team that reached out to me asked me not to tell anyone until they got there,” Hayes said.
The message read, “Hi Ethan. Taylor asked us to reach out after having seen your performance of Love Story for your sweet neighbor and would love to send something to the both of you.”
Hayes was recovering from knee surgery at his parents’ house when the package finally arrived at home. Natalie texted him asking if he had gotten it yet.
“I was like, ‘I’m not home,'” Hayes said. “She’s like, ‘Oh, you’re so strong.'”
Back in Lakewood, a package arrived — as tall as the UPS driver who delivered it. Russ was on his way home when Natalie asked the driver if he could wait.
“I kind of sped up and was behind him, and I was honking on my horn pretty much all the way down our street,” Russ said. “And eventually he pulled over.”
Inside was a signed guitar, and a handwritten letter — sealed in wax, sprayed with perfume.
“My mom saw the letter, and she started screaming, and so did I,” Madeline said. “I noticed that she signed it, and then I started screaming even more. … My favorite, favorite part was her perfume she sprayed on it.”
Taylor’s letter to Madeline was addressed “Dearest Madeline,” and signed with a falling star next to her name.
Hayes received a guitar and a note of his own. He read it for the first time while still recovering at his parents’ house.
“I got the note and I read it, and at the end she said, ‘Send(ing) you another guitar in case you need a backup,'” Hayes said. “And I looked at my mom and went, ‘Are you kidding me?’ I was like, ‘What?’ I’m usually not a guy that’s, like, lost for words, but I was, like, speechless. I was like, ‘I don’t know what to do right now.'”
Taylor’s note to Hayes read:
“Ethan, I wanted to send you a note to say thank you so much for playing my song for your neighbor and for knowing Love Story. It was so sweet watching the video of how it played out. Thank you for the smile it brought to my face. Sending you another guitar in case you need a backup. Love, Taylor.”
“She sprayed her perfume on the envelope too,” Hayes said. “And she smells really good.”
For a musician who has been grinding for four years, the response has meant something far deeper than fame.
“There’s times where I’m like, ‘Man, I don’t think I’m, like, a good writer. I’m not, like, I’m a good singer,'” Hayes said. “And then to get validation on such a scale has been very inspiring.”
He thinks he knows why a paper airplane touched millions of people.
“It’s hard out there for a lot of people recently,” he said. “Hopefully it can inspire them to be nice. (It) costs nothing to be nice.”
“That ounce of hope and connection is really special,” she said.
Russ has watched the whole thing unfold with quiet pride.
“It’s really cool to see that positivity and everybody just appears like they really needed it,” he said.
The two families have grown close through all of it — texting each other about interviews, checking in after Hayes’ surgery, even attempting to catch kittens living under his porch together. Natalie said it has been surreal.
“It’s kind of like a weird dream,” she said. “You’re like, ‘Did this happen?'”
It did, and Hayes has already made Madeline a promise.
“If you ever want to learn, you let me know,” he said of her ever playing the guitar one day. “I’m right there.”
Natalie is expecting a baby any day now, and on Thursday, Madeline gave a school biography presentation. Her subject: Taylor Swift.