The Christmas Season is about being with family, and no media showed that better than a video of a grandmother in tears at the sight of her adult grandkids spending the holiday with her. Karen Gamble was surprised by her family with a pizza and movie night and couldn’t have been more proud of the group that she assembled in her home that evening.
In the best feel-good story of the holidays, 24-year-old Tori Hahlen led the charge in gathering her six adult cousins to make a surprise trip to their grandparent’s house. The group brought games, blankets, snacks, and even pillows as they prepared to have a sleepover that the eight family members will likely keep as one of their most cherished memories for the rest of their lives.
The viral TikTok video of the encounter has been liked by over 8 million people now, with views continuing to pile up for the heartwarming video that perfectly encompasses the spirit of Christmas. The video, which shows the tremendous reaction that the Gamble’s exhibited when they saw their family, also offered a message to those watching.
The TikTok has a caption reading, “This is your sign to surprise your grandparents with a sleepover with all your adult cousins.” While it may not do much, surely a few extra lucky grandparents got to see their loved ones this year and spend time with those who are most important.
Tori Hahlen spoke to People about the process of getting the group together and planning the massive holiday surprise. She told them, in an exclusive interview, “Everyone was immediately all in and started sending ideas of games, snacks and how we would go about doing the big surprise… We have so many childhood memories of sleepovers at our Nana and Grandad’s that we wanted to recreate.”
The grandparents are also experiencing a new thing that they hadn’t ever found. Internet fame. Hahlen said that the couple had become the talk of the town after their presence became explosively known on social media. That joy of being famous in a small way has brought smiles to the faces of both of Tori’s grandparents.
Tori spoke about that newfound fame, saying, “My Nana said she immediately called her cousin, who is her best friend. And my Grandad said that he thinks when we go get breakfast at Bob Evans, people are going to ask for their autograph.”
While we live in a world where internet trends seem to rule the actions of our youngest generations, this video may spark a trend that changes the world for the better. Millions of TikTok users are celebrating the importance of family and finding that surprising grandparents can be a fun and enjoyable experience. If TikTok will ever be good for anything in society, it would be a great start to start to create a trend of younger generations visiting the oldest and most lonely members of their family trees.
Featured image: Screen shot from embedded video.
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