Grandma Posts Her 6-Year-Old Grandson Crying After No Family Or Friends Showed Up To His Birthday Party — 'Let's Show Him How Special He Is'
The heartbreaking photo demonstrates the importance of showing up for children and making them feel loved.
@dorothyreavis / TikTok A little boy turning six years old was excited to celebrate with family and friends at his birthday party. However, he was left heartbroken by the turnout.
Now, his grandmother has shared his story online in hopes of demonstrating to her grandson just how special and loved he is.
The grandmother posted a photo of her grandson crying after none of the guests showed up to his birthday party.
Like her six-year-old grandson, Dorothy Reavis was thrilled to celebrate the big day alongside loved ones at his birthday party, and like him, she was devastated as time went by and not one guest arrived. In a TikTok video that has been viewed over 2 million times, Reavis shared a heartwrenching photo of the little boy wiping tears away at the realization that his birthday party was not going to be how he had envisioned it.
“My grandson today after not one person out of family and friends bothered to show up at his 6th birthday party,” she wrote in the text overlay of the video. “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.” The grandmother called on other TikTok users to show the boy “how special he is.”
TikTok most certainly delivered, leaving thousands of comments sending him birthday wishes. “Let us know next year ahead of time and we will all show up!” one user encouraged. “I hope your day gets better. You deserve all the happiness in the world!” another user commented. “Happy birthday hunny, they don’t know what they’re missing,” another user added.
In a follow-up video, Reavis was overwhelmed by the support and thanked everyone who wished her grandson a happy birthday.
“When I started this, it wasn’t about ‘stuff,’ it was about showing him that people do care and that he is special,” she explains. “When I saw the tears in their eyes, it just broke my heart.”
The grandmother says she wanted to do anything she could to brighten her grandson’s spirit since she knew exactly how he felt. Growing up, Reavis shared that she received no cards, gifts, or a party for her birthday, and she never realized how special she truly was.
“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.”
“A big thank you to everyone who has commented on the video, shown your love and your support for our family,” Reavis addresses with tears streaming down her face. “You’ll never know how special just a few words can mean to someone in their lives.”
The kindness expressed by TikTok users didn’t end there. Many of them wanted to send gifts to the little boy and suggested that Reavis open a PO box where she could have them delivered.
While the little boy’s friends and family may have failed to show up for him, it does not discredit how special and loved he is, and even strangers on the Internet proved that to him.
Megan Quinn is a writer at YourTango who covers entertainment and news, self, love, and relationships.