Hallee Sorenson, who has autism, had her 18th birthday party at a bowling alley. The excited teen was ready for all of her friends to show up and wish her well, however she was devastated when not one person showed up. Instead of spending her 18th birthday party socializing and eating cake, she spent her special day crying.
Hallee’s cousin, Rebecca Guildford, was heartbroken for her relative. She said, “Hallee is funny, sweet, caring, smart, an athlete, a jigsaw puzzle champion, a wonderful student, and a best friend to all.”
According to Guildford, there was no way Hallee deserved to spend a birthday sobbing into her cake. So this year, Guildford took to Facebook to make Hallee’s 19th birthday one to remember, and this time because it would be exceptionally great.
On June 8, she posted a photo on Facebook of Hallee celebrating her birthday alone and asked for those who felt moved to send her a card to wish her well to help cancel out the horrible way her party turned out the previous year.
Guildford said of the incident last year:
“My cousin is a beautiful young woman who will always have the mind of a child…so as you can imagine, she was heartbroken and beyond sad. She was hurt…”
The post, which has been shared over 230,000 times, garnered at least 10,000 cards for Hallee, even though she won’t be turning 19 until July. Guildford said of her cousin:
“But you can help make this years birthday incredible!! I would love to flood her mailbox with birthday cards, from all over! Hal loves getting mail- this would be the best birthday gift she could ask for. If you could find it in your heart to take a few mins out of your day and send her a card, I would be forever greatful.
This would mean a lot to her mother as well, for as you can imagine, watching your child cry into her birthday cake breaks your heart. If there is anyone who deserves a great birthday, this is the girl. Feel free to share this post!”
The family has encouraged as many people as possible to send cards to Hallee, but has stated that gifts are not necessary. Guildford’s post indicates that mail can be sent to Hallee at the following address:
Hallee Sorenson
34 Wellesley Way
Bangor, ME 04401
Sources:
USA Today
Facebook.com/FoxNews/posts/10154357662556336
KFOR