Lauren Blank, who prefers to go by "Ren," is from Keller, Texas, and just turned 16 this week. For her birthday, she was given a gift by her grandfather that I can only describe as the cutest shit I've ever seen — and no hyperbole either.
On Wednesday, Blank's grandpa decided to finally gift her something for her birthday that he's been working on, and saving, all these years.
Ren's grandfather had kept journals from when she was 2 until she turned 5, documenting every mundane and spectacular memory they shared together. "The notebook is just filled with daily things that we did," Blank said. "We went to the zoo a lot, and flew kites, and throughout the notebooks he gave me advice."
Blank said she was confused at first by what the notebooks were, but as she read the stories and entries, she became overwhelmed. Her entire family then began to cry.
In one of the stories she shared with BuzzFeed News, her grandpa wrote about making her laugh by dancing "like an uncoordinated fat ballerina" and playing dress-up.
"I was completely in shock and couldn't even cry at first," she said initially, thumbing through the notebooks filled to the brim with writing.
Her grandfather's gesture has gone hugely viral on Twitter, with more than 144,000 retweets currently.
@renblankk
People were totally touched, and many said the gesture brought them to tears.
@renblankk
Ugly-crying tears.
@renblankk I'm sobbing
I would read this and cry every night https://t.co/7mv9dMjBR2
Man I'd literally cry for years if I got something like this https://t.co/F5PmdJcwm0
People were overcome by emotion at how genuinely and simply thoughtful the gift was.
@renblankk this shows you how much he cares remember everything because once you see him again he will be older and might not remember
And it's making people emotional thinking about the memories they share with their own grandfathers.
I'd give anything to somehow relive memories with my grandpa https://t.co/Wfh8Fq7SDK
i'd do anything to have something like this from my grandpa https://t.co/irVMu9jAR1
People are also inspired to do this for their current and future grandchildren. "I've had so much feedback from other kids my age who say they want to get closer to their grandparents," Blank said.
@renblankk @allisonkolosick Imma be the grandpa, thank you for inspiration other grandpa
"Or, it's been a real eye-opener for them to appreciate their grandparents while they are still here."
I'm so doing this with my grandchildren! https://t.co/EXR2dN2UTc
"I truly don't think that I will ever have a gift that is greater than this," she added.
