An intergenerational duo teams up to make greeting cards

LANSING, Mich. (InvestigateTV) - Riley Haughey sits at her kitchen table with a tackle box of tools, drawing her newest critter with markers.

“I just really like the close up of looking at how markers go onto the paper. It kind of is like magic for me,” Riley said.

The 11-year-old fifth grader creates colorful animal drawings she calls Riley’s Critters. Each critter ends up on a greeting card.

“This is like top notch printing I feel like,” Riley said.

The printer is 85-year-old Tony Klain.

Klain has no grandchildren of his own. He became a friend of the Haughey family six years ago when they were backyard neighbors.

“He’s so kind,” said Whitney Haughey, Riley’s mother.

When the family was looking for a cost-effective way to get Riley’s Critters on greeting cards to help pay for Riley’s dance classes, Klain stepped up.

“He was like, I can do it,” Whitney said.

At his home office, Klain uploads Riley’s animal art and cleans up imperfections.

“We’ll call it Cherry the squirrel,” Klain said while working on one card.

He preserves Riley’s signature mark, a paw print in the shape of a heart, and her brush strokes.

“I don’t like to change what she’s done,” Klain said.

The work is familiar to Klain. His wife Phoebe did similar artwork.

“My wife did the same thing and so that’s kind of cool,” Klain said.

The artistic connection to Klain’s wife has helped mend his broken heart.

“Actually, when my wife died, she left a whole bunch of journals, and she did a lot of really neat drawings and stuff,” Klain said.

Klain perfected his Photoshop talent by turning his wife’s art into a collection of calendars. He pulled drawings from her journals and scanned them to match each month.

Now the 85-year-old is matching wits with an 11-year-old in a friendship built on art.

Riley gives a nod of approval when she sees the finished product.

“It looks good,” Riley said.

“Makes my day every time I do it,” Klain said.