Nothing is more heartbreaking than to discover that your child's friends and classmates don't want to be on her birthday. But that's what exactly happened to a 10-year-old girl.
But then again, many stories end up happily. This is one of them.
Mackenzie Moretter, 10, and Jenny, her mother, lives in Minnesota. They are a normal family except that Mackenzie has been diagnosed with Sotos syndrome, a very rare condition that affects only 1 per 10,000 newborns. This disease is characterized by overgrowth such as a big skull, which has already been corrected, in her case, through a surgery many years ago. Children with the condition also tend to experience intellectual delays, which may prevent them from becoming more sociable.
And this was very much evident in her interaction with her classmates. Speaking on BuzzFeed, Jenny and her husband, Matt, talked about how Mackenzie didn't really have any friends in school and that no one ever came by their house to play with her.
Thus, when Jenny sent out an invitation to 10 girls, asking them if they could come for Mackenzie's tenth birthday, none of them confirmed their attendance.
As a mother, she wanted nothing but to make her daughter happy, who has always wanted to have friends. Thus, she took her invite to Facebook. She posted a Facebook event called Mackenzie's Birthday Party, which was scheduled on April 18. She called on parents who have children if they could allow their little ones to attend her birthday party. She shared her virtual invite to several local community pages in Facebook.
However, she got more than what she hoped for: not only kids but also their parents, friends, and the entire community gathered to celebrate. Some of the Minnesota Vikings arrived while the Shakopee mayor declared the special day as Mackenzie Moretter Day. The party also had BBQs, cakes, arts and crafts, games, a DJ, and truck tours from the local firefighters.
Overwhelmed with emotions, Mackenzie thanked everyone for allowing her voice to be heard.
