This Fourth of July, there were fireworks, burgers and one picture that captured the hearts of thousands. Taken by Rachel MacKnight of New York, the image shows two happy families blissfully lost in the moment. But when you look closer, it becomes a symbol of unity and kindness. The picture quickly went viral at the beginning of July with more than 89,000 upvotes on Reddit in the matter of a few days.

In her original post on Twitter, MacKnight captioned the photo, “Thiiiiiis is what makes America great. Happy 4th of July y’all.” And isn’t that so true? This melting pot of a nation is stronger when we all make efforts on connect as humans—with love, compassion and a bonding love of adorable babies!

And many of MacKnight’s fellow Americans demonstrated they agreed by passing along their own pictures of friendly cross-cultural interactions or words of support.

Many others noted that this should be the norm, not an exception worthy of Internet fame—and while that’s certainly true, there’s just no denying how heartwarming this innocent picture is. After all, it’s pretty amazing to see how a simple photo of two different families sharing a laugh on the C Train during the Fourth of July celebrations sparked such an important conversation, especially during a time when there seems to be so much focus on what divides our country rather than unifies it.

For me, the now-viral pic is a welcome reminder that the parenting world connects all of us to a bigger village as we’re each trying our best to raise tiny humans. We hope to raise kids who give up their seats, share and demonstrate kindness to others without restrain. to be kind and friendly to others. This picture reminds us that there is a lot to be learned from sitting next to someone new on the bus ride home.

A version of this story was published July 4, 2017. It has been updated.