A stunned grandma double-took in shock when her soldier granddaughter, who she didn’t think could make her 90th birthday, surprised her on her big day.
Grandma Louise, from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, was extremely sad to find out that granddaughter Blessed, 20, a specialist with the United States Army, couldn’t attend her birthday celebrations.
The pair share an extremely close bond, but with Blessed being based at Fort Carson, Colorado, she didn’t think she’d be able to get leave to return to Philadelphia.
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Being on active duty, Blessed could only wait and keep putting off buying plane tickets until just a few days before her grandma’s big day, her leave got approved.
Due to the lateness of the booking, Blessed’s flight cost almost $1000, she said – but that couldn’t stop her wanting to attend her grandma’s celebrations.
Having arrived in Philadelphia on October 5, Blessed asked her cousins to pick her up from the airport before heading to the party, which no other family members knew she was set to attend.
Blessed handed her phone to one of her cousins and asked them to record it as she casually walked into the event, wearing her military uniform.
As soon as Louise noticed her, she immediately shook from the shock of the surprise, double-taking for a split second before giving her granddaughter an emotional hug.
Blessed said: “What I hope people take from this story is to love your family.
“You don’t know how long you have with them or what they might be going through.
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“My grandma is 90 and still drives, walks, talks – she even got a job at Goodwill to receive free clothes.
“The response from friends, family and those on social media to the video has been overwhelming.
“Over a million people have viewed my video.
“I sent the video to my dad because he was on a cruise then, and he said he was about to cry because it was so sweet.
“Strangers have been showing me the most support – I’ve been getting emails, messages, and DMs about this video.”