A woman hugged him tightly and cried with pride, but she was neither his mother nor his teacher: she was the woman who had served him lunch for five years

That photo did not go viral because of the graduation, but because of who was crying in her arms.

Philip had just graduated from Wheeler School in Providence, Rhode Island, when photographer Justin Holland captured the moment Deon “Miss Deon” Lucas hugged him through tears. Philip had been studying there since sixth grade, and she had been working in the school’s cafeteria for five years.

But Miss Deon was not just the person who served him lunch. She was the person who welcomed students with hugs, fist bumps, questions about how their day had gone, and the kind of attention that can seem small until the years go by.

For Philip, those scenes repeated themselves over five years. That is why, when graduation arrived, the hug ended up saying much more than any speech.

The image went viral because it showed something many people recognized immediately: at school, people who were never in front of a blackboard also leave a lasting impression.

Philip is now preparing to go to Yale, while Miss Deon will return to the cafeteria next year to keep doing exactly the same thing with other students.