In a heartwarming video shared on TikTok, an 89-year-old man began to break down in tears at a Cracker Barrel. No, he didn't get a bad meal and get upset about it. The senior started tearing up when other people in the restaurant sang Happy Birthday to him.
Videos by Wide Open Country
Cracker Barrel Sings Happy Birthday To Crying 89-Year-Old Man
This short, 12-second video has reached eight million views, showing the crowd at Cracker Barrel celebrating his birthday. As reported by Taste of Country, his name is Richard, and he's a regular customer of this establishment.
Although the staff know him well, Richard certainly wasn't expecting other customers to serenade him. "Entire Cracker Barrel singing to this sweet old man who turned 89," the text on the video read.
The man had a piece of desert in front of him when people started singing. Near the end of the Happy Birthday song, you could see Richard start to sob at the sweet gesture. "Him crying broke my heart," the text added, "and I went over to hug him.
Author V.A. Sanchez '@authorvasanchez' posted this touching moment on February 16, and it didn't take long to go viral. The poster also wrote, "Look at him being excited about his birthday dessert," with a crying emoji.
Just a day after the post blew up, Sanchez wanted to do more for Richard to celebrate his birthday. Since she didn't work too far away from the restaurant, she got in contact with staff to find out when his next visit was.
That same day, Sanchez updated her viewers that she was going to meet up with Richard. She put together a sweet birthday card and included some tea bags as a small gift. The author filmed the whole thing, re-introducing herself and revealing how many netizens wished him a wonderful birthday.
"I just wanted to come and just share that love with you that so many people remembered their own Grandpa," she told him. "They wanted me to give you big hugs, and they were all crying with you on your birthday."
Sanchez later revealed in the video to her viewers that Richard has Alzheimer's. "He probably doesn't remember yesterday, God, I'm going to cry again," she said. The author added that his daughter wasn't sure if he remembered the Happy Birthday moment since he looked confused during the conversation.
Despite perhaps not remembering the heartwarming birthday serenade, Sanchez described him as a "sweet man" who accepted another hug from her. Richard also accepted the birthday card and the kind gesture of Sanchez paying for his meal.
