When most children celebrate their first birthdays, complete with a party, they don’t even realize they’ve turned a year older. It’s really an event for the parents to celebrate the accomplishment of keeping a child alive for a full year. And, hopefully, the kid has fun, too. Within a few years though, that changes as kids learn to be excited about their birthday parties.
As children grow older, birthday parties become significant social events. If they go well, they’ll become lovely memories. And if they don’t, it can be a source of trauma.
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One grandma posted a photo of her grandson heartbroken on his birthday.
One grandmother attempted to ease the blow after no one showed up to her grandson’s sixth birthday party. Dorothy Reavis shared a heart-wrenching photo of her grandson, Hunter, wiping tears away from his eyes underneath his glasses.
In the text over the video, Dorothy wrote: “my grandson today after not one person out of family and friends bothered to show up at his 6th birthday party. what you don’t see is me hugging his mother my daughter while she bawled for her son. this highly intelligent, music loving, funny boy. let’s show him how special he is.”
Thankfully, people on TikTok showed up for Hunter.
Three million people watched the video in just a few days. Thousands wished Hunter a happy birthday. Others took it a step further and came through with Dorothy’s request and are still coming through. Someone even asked if Dorothy had created an Amazon wish list for Hunter. She had, so she shared the link.
Dorothy said when she saw her grandson and daughter crying, it broke her heart and she had to do something.
Later, Dorothy came back to TikTok to express her gratitude. “I just wanted to give a big thank to everyone who’s commented on my grandson’s video about his birthday,” she said. “When I started this it wasn’t about stuff. It was more about showing him that people do care and that he is special.”
With her own voice cracking and tears streaming down her face, Dorothy shared that when she saw the tears in her grandson and daughter’s eyes, it broke her heart.
Dorothy also felt under-appreciated as a child.
The story also had an additional layer in that Dorothy herself also grew up feeling under-appreciated. “I loved my mom, she did the best she could with what she had which was very little, but when you’re a kid you just don’t understand all of that,” she says.
“So when I saw that same look on their faces, I couldn’t let that happen.” Later, Hunter and his mother recorded a video of their own to say thank you.
Hunter also expressed his gratitude.
“Thank you for the birthday wishes. Thank you for the love. Thank you for all the gifts,” Hunter said. His mom echoed the sentiment, adding that Hunter was a little overwhelmed and might seem a bit shy because, unlike his grandmother, he doesn’t TikTok.
After seeing him, the words of encouragement continued to pour in. “Don’t ever forget how awesome you are kid!!” one user wrote.
