In-laws offer a new chance to bond as a family—and one woman’s son-in-law is relating to her struggle like no one else.
A video posted to TikTok by Savannah Rootes (@sav.gif) has gone viral after sharing that her mother, the family’s notorious slow walker, has found a “walking buddy” in Rootes’ husband. Rootes spoke to Newsweek about the sweet observation and the relationship that goes much deeper than the video captures.
“POV: Your mom is the only slow walker in the family, so you found her a walking buddy and married him,” Rootes captioned the video. “My heart.”
A family walks together on a beach, with grandparents behind them. A video on TikTok has gone viral after a woman’s mother’s slow walking met its match in her husband.
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Rootes said that her mom has always walked slowly to take in all that’s around her. Growing up, there would be one sibling who walked ahead with Rootes’ dad, and one who stayed behind with her mom. As a family of avid hikers, they never let the pace difference get to them—on trails, the faster duo would leave treasures and messages for the slower duo.
“We had a game where we would yell out the beginning of a compound word and the other group would finish it,” Rootes said. “Like, the front group would yell ‘lady!’ and the back group would yell ‘bug!’ We would never get too far separated before waiting.”
When she found Jax, her husband, Rootes said it was like finding the fifth member of the family. He fit in with ease, hitting it off with everyone in her family—including her mom.
“My mom and Jax quickly became best friends. It was one of the first signs I had that I was going to marry him,” Rootes said. “They have long phone calls exchanged multiple times a week, and when they get together, they are always cracking each other up.”
“Growing up, Jax’s role models were his mom and grandmothers…he has always been a man written by women and has always gravitated towards women when forming deep connections. So, it totally makes sense that he and my mom were immediately BFFs.”
The connection between the two has led to funny bits within the family. When they all went to Portugal this summer, Jax and his mother-in-law started a new tradition where they asked the rest of the family to walk ahead while they took their time.
“It warmed my heart that they wanted to walk together,” Rootes said. “Jax always complains that I walk too fast, and he likes to stroll.”
Ultimately, she said, the video was an ode to her mom, who she described as the “center of [her] whole family”—and Jax’s loving acknowledgment of her.
“It was a TikTok about finding someone who walks with my mom, but really what I was trying to show was, ‘Look at this man who loves my family the way I love my family,'” Rootes said. “Don’t stop looking until you find someone who fits into your life, whatever that may look like, the way this incredible man fits into mine.”
