Friendships that blossom during difficult times are especially precious. That’s what grew between 3-year-olds Mack Porter and Payson Altice while they were receiving cancer treatment at Phoenix Children’s Hospital.

While battling cancer at the Arizona hospital, the two became fast friends. Both, thankfully, are in remission and were discharged earlier this summer.

While this was wonderful news, it came with a catch: the friends would no longer see each other as frequently.

Mack and Altice live in towns 30 minutes apart, so getting together wasn’t easy. After two months apart, they began to miss each other greatly.

“His first question every morning was, ‘When can I play with Payson?'” Dani Porter, Mack’s mother, told TODAY Parents.

Last month, the day they’d been anticipating arrived. On July 21, the two children were reunited, and the emotional reunion was captured on video.

Mack is seen in the video handing Payson a bouquet of flowers. Knowing he chose it himself makes the action even more enjoyable! The cute couple then hugs and dances in Payson’s kitchen.

“Just watching our children be children was a blessing,” Dani told World News Tonight.

Mack spent the morning before going to Payson preparing for the playdate and selecting toys he thought his best friend would enjoy.

Payson was diagnosed with B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia in September 2020, just weeks after her third birthday, and Mack was diagnosed with anaplastic large cell lymphoma (ALCL) in January. Both, thankfully, are in remission and will begin preschool in the fall.

They met earlier this year when Dani noticed a “spunky” little girl walking down the hall with giant mylar balloons.

Dani could tell Mack liked the little girl right away. She later approached Payson’s mother, Traci Barrett, and asked if her daughter would like to go for a walk with Mack, trusting her intuition.

The hospital had been lonelier since the pandemic started because the playroom and family room were closed.

“Payson was so isolated. It was so hard to meet people because of the pandemic. She was asking for new toys every five minutes,” Traci said. “And then Mack came along.”

When they met, they instantly clicked and bonded over their shared love of “Peppa Pig.” Payson introduced Mack to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and the boy taught Payson some cool dance moves taught him by his older sisters.

Mack’s father, Ty Porter, stated that the kids understood each other in a way that no one else could.

“They understand what each other is going through like they know the heart,” he explained. “We can all guess and understand it to some extent, but they know 3-year-old pediatric cancer.”

The two children have fun in their own little world while IV lines are attached to their bodies. They were able to find relief from the terrible disease they were fighting in each other’s company.

“Traci and I were both teary watching them just be kids,” Dani said. “As soon as Mack got up from his nap he was like, ‘I need to find Payson and bring her a present.’”

Mack and Payson went swimming together last week. They also regularly FaceTime and send each other funny clips.

“It’s just a really special relationship,” Dani said.

These two kids really set an example of how to get through tough times. They battled cancer and won!

“During these scary and hard times, no matter what, just look to the children because they’ll lead the way,” Traci said.

Seeing Mack and Payson’s bond also gave Dani a new perspective on life.

“The human experience has so many hard things and it can be so much better if we’re just good to each other,” she said.

See Mack and Payson’s heartwarming reunion in the video below.