The pain of losing a parent is unimaginable, but it's a reality for Chloe Sexton and her younger sister Charlotte who recently turned eight years old.
Their mum sadly died of brain cancer a few months ago and while dealing with the aftermath and grief, Chloe was dealt another heartbreaking blow.
The baker, who owns Bluff Cakes in Memphis, Tennessee, is raising her younger sister following their mother's death and as such was recently in charge of planning Charlotte's birthday party - the first party she'd ever had.
Understandably she wanted to make the day special for the youngster, given all they had been through - but when she looked at the RSVPs for the event, she was devastated to see only one child from her sister's class would be attending.
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Chloe shared her upset in a teary video on TikTok under the username @ChloeBluffCakes, where it quickly went viral.
She said: "A PSA for anybody who has a kid that they're raising.
"If a kid in your child's class gives out birthday invitations, it's like an hour or two of your life, please just come.
"My little sister turns eight tomorrow (July 5), her birthday party is going to be this weekend.
"Our mum died of brain cancer 83 days ago... one, one child from her class RSVP'd. I haven't even told her that. Like, why? Why? Her whole class knew what happened."
The big sister went on to share how much work she was putting into the party, doing lots of DIY in an attempt to make it "phenomenal".
She added: "At the end of the day, this shouldn't be me. It should be our mum. My mum should be doing this.
"It just would suck less if kids wanted to come or their parents had given a f**k."
More than nine million people have since seen the emotional video and thankfully the tale has a happy ending as kind strangers from the internet rallied to ensure Charlotte had a birthday she would never forget.
Chloe shared an update, showing how two "incredibly sweet women" came and decorated their house for the party, with Encanto-themed decorations.
Then more surprises arrived throughout the day - with one woman bringing horses to their front garden for Charlotte to meet and have pony rides on and a Jeep group orchestrating a drive-by of more than 30 Jeeps, with each driver giving the little one a gift as they came.
Once they headed inside, another surprise awaited as a reptile specialist had brought some critters for them to learn about and hold.
The big sister adds that thankfully some other children did show up on the day, with there being "more than a dozen kids" there at one point.
"Charlotte was absolutely shaking with excitement," recalls Chloe.
"Nothing can match the pure joy I saw on my sister's face.
"This birthday changed my life and changed my sister's life and it is the least lonely we have felt in a long time. This is the power of the good side of the internet."
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