8-Year-Old Girl Gets No Replies To Birthday Party Invitations, But Friendly Strangers Are Ready To Help Out

Jul 26, 2022

Elementary school birthday parties are supposed to be about mouthfuls of cake, balloons, streamers, and celebrations you'll remember forever. However, not everyone is as kind as we'd hope they'd be when it comes to making someone's special day really shine. One eight-year-old girl in Tennessee initially felt this unexpected cruelty from her classmates when she received only one RSVP to her party.

Charlotte Joy Sexton was, as any little girl would, expecting perhaps a few friends, a round of pin the tail on the donkey and lots of sugary snacks. But she got so much more after her sister, Chloe, posted on TikTok in July 2022. 

"For anybody who has a kid that they're raising, if a kid in your child's class gives out birthday invitations, just come. It's like, an hour or two of your life. Please just come," Sexton said, explaining the disheartening party situation to her viewers. "My little sister turns 8 tomorrow. Her birthday party is going to be this weekend." She continued, touching on the family's recent hardship. "Our mom died of brain cancer 83 days ago." Having gone through such a loss, Sexton had worked to ensure that her sister had a party regardless of their collective sadness. However, their mailbox stayed empty. "One -- one child from her class RSVP'd." Sexton said disappointedly. "I haven't even told her that." She admitted. "Like why? Why? Her whole class knew what happened." 

Sexton expressed her shock that the children and their families would act so coldly, given they knew about their loss. Her TikTok was posted on July 4, one day before her sister was due to have her birthday party.

Over nine million people saw the TikTok and a local bunch felt they had to act. Suddenly, RSVPs flooded in, but not from classmates. From everyone, everywhere. Asking to attend and even asking to help. "I was receiving floods of Instagram messages from moms...I had a team of women, who lived local to me, who were going to decorate my house and help me clean it, who were going to assemble the balloon garlands at their own homes and bring them back and hang them. So it became something of its own right away." Sexton said.

The day was made extra special by the fact that Charlotte hadn't really had a birthday party yet. "This wasn't just Charlotte's first birthday without Mom. This was Charlotte's first birthday party ever," Sexton clarified. "A lot of people who go through cancer and have little kids, they make these sacrifices and they have to decide, 'Well, what do I actually have the strength and the energy for because I want to be at my healthiest, but if I throw myself into inviting people and whatever germs and a pandemic into my home, I could put my life at risk.' So that wasn't something my mom ever really got to do." She explained, expanding on how their mother's illness affected Charlotte's childhood. 

But grief didn't damper their spirits that day. Charlotte said it was "the best day." Telling her sister, "I feel like this was the most special day of my life." With birthday cards still rolling in from every corner of the map, it seems it'll be an extra special memory for a long time to come.

What was your most memorable birthday from your childhood? Let us know — and be sure to pass this article on to friends and family!