A small gesture snowballed into a huge outpouring of love.
THE GOOD NEWS:
In the age of the internet, a small gesture can snowball into a huge outpouring of love.
Early in March 2018, a young woman named Sydney Uselton tried on a beautiful black evening gown and wanted to get her friend’s opinion of the dress. But, in her excitement, Sydney accidentally texted the pictures to Tony Wood, a father of six, in Tennessee.
Photo via Mandi Miller/Twitter.
Instead of ignoring the errant text, Wood told Sydney he thought the dress looked great. “My wife isn’t home, so I couldn’t get her opinion, but the kids and I think you look stunning in your dress! You should definitely go with that one!”
Woods later told the Daily Mail he responded to the text to help Uselton feel confident in a world that often tears women down.
“Society puts a lot of pressure on these young women to have a certain look and a certain body build. We try to teach our children to be themselves and not worry about what others think,” he said. “Even with that, my young daughters already express a desire to ‘fit in’ and I figured this young lady might need that reassurance.”
Woods got five of his six children to give a big thumbs up, too.
Photo via Mandi Miller/Twitter.
Sydney’s photo and the father’s charming response were shared on Twitter by Mandi Miller, and it quickly went viral. Shocked by the response and fame, Wood mentioned why his sixth child, Kaizler, wasn’t in the photo: He was receiving treatment for leukemia.
\nHello! Apparently you have made my children Twitter famous! My 2nd youngest (not pictured, he was at chemo clinic) has a FB page for his fight against Leukemia and one of our Prayer Warriors recognized the children! Btw, my wife agreed that the dress looked great! God Bless!
— TriStar Home Team (@TristarHomeTeam) March 9, 2018\n
Another Twitter user chimed in with the information for Kaizler’s GoFundMe page, and the donations started pouring in. Within a few days, the Woods had more than tripled their $10,000 goal. At the publish time of this article, the GoFundMe had reached over $54,000. “We can’t thank you enough, but any further donations are unnecessary!” the page reads.
\nThe kindness and generosity of Twitter and other venues saw our gofundme account surpass our goal last night! I can't begin to thank everyone enough! This is a major hour of need for us and this blessing will help more than you know! God Bless all of you!
— TriStar Home Team (@TristarHomeTeam) March 11, 2018\n
According to The Metro, Kaizler is currently in the “maintenance” phase of his treatment, which will continue until next April.
Share on Facebook
