No Friends Show Up for a Boy's 6th Birthday, Strangers Later Organize a Remarkable Day for Him
BASIS Tucson Primary school student Teddy invited his 32 classmates to his sixth birthday, but sadly no one showed. Afterward, his story went viral, and people reached out to celebrate with him.
Tucson boy Teddy's sixth birthday was fast approaching, so his parents Sil Mazzini and Ted Bollinger asked the little boy to choose between a trip to Disney World, an excursion to Legoland, or a party with his classmates.
Teddy chose to celebrate with his classmates from BASIS Tucson Primary school and his mother Mazzini subsequently organized the birthday bash at the Peter Piper Pizza in Tucson.
She also gave Teddy's teacher invitation cards meant for the parents of her son's classmates, inviting them to the birthday bash two weeks to the day.
It looked like everything was set to make Teddy's sixth birthday a memorable one for the youngster and his classmates, but sadly it turned out to be the opposite.
Teddy at the Phoenix Rising MLS. | Source: youtube.com/Inside
NO ONE SHOWED UP
About one hour into their son's birthday party Mazzini and Bollinger were left disappointed when no one had shown up.
Their son had looked forward to partying with his friends, and now an hour into the party, not even one of his classmates had arrived. So Teddy sat alone at the table meant for him and 32 members of his class who had not shown, looking sad.
However, they wouldn't allow their son to be sad on his birthday, so Mazzini and Bollinger decided to keep their son occupied to save the day.
Cheerleaders at the Phoenix Suns NBA singing for Teddy. | Source: youtube.com/Inside Edition
They got the little boy to quickly get over his disappointment by playing arcade games and eating pizza. After spending $130 on ordering pizza and arranging 32 goodie bags full of toys for each kid in the class, no one showed, and Mazzini was upset.
Afterward, she decided to post about the incident and a picture of Teddy online, so at least the boy would get birthday messages, but the story quickly went viral.
Teddy being sang a happy birthday song to and blow out the candles on his cake. | Source: youtube.com/Inside Edition
NETIZEN'S REACTIONS
The story quickly caught fire after Mazzini shared a picture of Teddy sitting sad and alone in front of several half-eaten pizzas to a local news website.
The post generated a lot of reactions, and while some people sympathized with Teddy and his parents, others criticized Mazzini that she was seeking sympathy online.
However, Mazzini defended herself by explaining that she was shocked and upset after she had to pay for everything she organized, and no one showed up.
Teddy and his father, Ted Bollinger watching a basketball game at the Phoenix Suns NBA. | source: youtube.com/Inside Edition
Mazzini clarified that after giving out the invitations, she received like 15 RSVPS, so it was shocking when not a single classmate of Teddy showed up.
She added that only one parent called to apologize for not showing up after the incident, but Teddy's classmates apologized to him the following day in school.
Mazzini also declared she regretted sharing the picture because it went viral. The family was overwhelmed with the reactions, and she hated every minute of exposure the post got.
She revealed that they would not organize a party for Teddy's seventh birthday, and instead, she would take the boy on a trip.
There were, however, some positives from the post as Teddy and his parents were invited by the Phoenix Suns NBA team and the Phoenix Rising MLS team to their upcoming games.
Hundreds of people, including the players, celebrated Teddy, and he was given a cake while cheerleaders sang and waved at the six-year-old. Also, celebrities like DJ Khaled offered to send the little boy birthday gifts.