12-year-old's emotional reaction to puppy surprise has the internet tearing up
An Ohio boy was surprised with a puppy for his 12th birthday this week and his emotional reaction has social media users tearing up alongside him.
Sarah Grimpo shared a TikTok video of her son's big surprise that has since been viewed more than 30 million times in just two days.
The video shows Grimpo's son Adam unwrapping a birthday present, which turns out to be a "Stranger Things"-themed walkie-talkie dog toy and another basketball dog toy.
"He's been begging for a dog since he was 3 years old…." text superimposed in the video reads.
Adam appears amused by the gifts, squeaking the walkie-talkie toy. Grimpo, who filmed the clip, can be heard saying off camera, "Are you serious? They're dog toys? I'm so sorry, bud, I guess you're gonna need a dog."
Grimpo's husband Tim then walks up behind Adam, holding a furry bundle in his arms.
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Once Adam turns around and sees the new puppy, he gasps, smiling excitedly. "I think I'm gonna cry," he says, before bursting into tears and petting the puppy on the head.
"His wish came true 🥰❤️," text superimposed in the video then reads.
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"Yep! I'm crying too," wrote one commenter, in reaction to the video.
"I'm crying too you sweet angel! HAPPY BDAY," another commented.
Adam told "Good Morning America" he was initially "a little confused and a little upset" by his dog toy gifts but once he met Weller, his new black Portuguese water dog and golden retriever mix puppy, he was overwhelmed with emotions.
"I've always wanted a dog and so when I saw Weller, he's a really cute dog and I was so excited just to have a new pet and everything and have a lot of memories with him," the 12-year-old said.
Grimpo, a business development manager for a financial services company, said it wasn't until she switched jobs during the coronavirus pandemic that she felt it was finally a good time for the family to get a dog.
"Now that I work from home, we made the decision to surprise Adam on his 12th birthday with the puppy. It kind of all happened really fast," the mom of two told "GMA."
"It was about a month before his birthday. So I just looked at my husband and I said, 'I think it's time.' We think he's old enough. We did a chore chart this summer and he really proved to us that he can take on responsibility," she recalled. "It just all played out perfectly, the timing of when Weller was born and then of course Adam's birthday too."
She said Adam's reaction to the puppy surprise brought tears to her eyes too. "I just thought that he would be super excited which he was, but it ended up being a really, really raw emotional moment for him and for me as his mom and dad to just witness how grateful he was," she said.
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In a follow-up video posted on TikTok Thursday, Grimpo shared a collection of photos of Adam and Weller, now about 8 weeks old, bonding and enjoying time together at home.
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Weller has now amassed a much larger dog toy collection, although he's more partial to his basketball toy than his "Stranger Things" toy, according to his family.
Grimpo, meanwhile, said she was "taken aback" by the extraordinary response to her initial TikTok video.
"We're just pretty shocked at the attention that this has had and I've been really happy and excited to share it with anybody that wants to listen and watch," she said.
"It's just been a great experience all around and definitely a birthday he'll never forget."
12-year-old's emotional reaction to puppy surprise has the internet tearing up originally appeared on goodmorningamerica.com
