WWII veteran bids farewell to 3-year-old neighbor

FARMINGTON, Minn. -- A World War II veteran bid farewell Monday to his 3-year-old next door neighbor who became one of his dearest friends. The pair from Farmington, Minnesota are separating after spending nearly every day together for the past year.

Emmett Rychner, 3, moved Monday to Northfield, Minnesota and Erling Kindem, 89, is moving with his ailing wife to a retirement center next month. Their heartwarming friendship recently went viral.

"He was in my yard yesterday and I asked him:' Emmett, you are moving pretty soon right?'" Kindem told ABC News. "And he said, 'Yeah, we won't be seeing each other again.' It made me cry."

Kindem had been neighbors with Rychner's parents for nearly a decade, but were never close until last year when the young boy struck up a friendship over tomatoes.

Over the year, Kindem taught Emmett how to throw a baseball and fix a bike. They even have matching green riding mowers, though Rychner's is a toy.

Because his 94-year-old wife is sick, Kindem is moving to a retirement center near a clinic and a hospital nearby. The center will be 30 miles away from Rychner's new home.

"Our health has to come first," Kindem told ABC News. "My wife had a bypass surgery in February and she had two stents put in her heart."

But the two may be reunited in October, when Rychner's birthday party will take place.

ABC News contributed to this report.