With her birthday approaching, Ren was planning to have a small get-together with her friends at home. Her parents were out of town, and her grandfather had promised her that he wouldn't disturb them and stay in his room.
Little did she know, her grandfather was planning a big surprise that would turn out to be a disaster.
They Had A Close Bond
When Ren was born, her grandfather, Ron, became her sole caretaker. They spent hours playing outside, watching TV, and reading books.
When Ren was five years old, Ron thought of the perfect gift idea for her 16th birthday. He thought that Ren was going to love it, but he couldn't have been more wrong.
Working On His Gift
Every day, while Ren was sleeping, Ron would secretly work on his big project. He was always careful not to let her see his surprise and also kept it a secret from her parents.
Initially, he didn't want Ren to see his gift until after he had died, but then he changed his mind and decided to give it to her on her 16th birthday.
He Confided In Her Parents
Eventually, he confided in Ren's parents about his special gift. "Should I give it to her on her 16th birthday or wait until she is older?" he asked them.
But when he showed his gift to Ren's mother, her jaw nearly dropped to the floor.
He Decided To Give It To Her On Her 16th Birthday
Ren's mother insisted that he give Ren his gift on her 16th birthday so that they could all share this beautiful moment together.
So, he followed her advice, thinking that Ren would love his gift. But her reaction was far from what he expected.
He Couldn't Wait To See Her Reaction
He couldn't wait to see the look on Ren's face after spending all these years working on his present and decided to give it to her at her party.
Ron wanted everyone to see his precious gift because, for him, it was a way to remind her of the friendship they had when she was little.
The Meaning Behind His Gift
Ron didn't want his granddaughter to forget everything they had done together. So, he combined all of their memories in a small box.
So how did Ren react when she saw his gift?
The Day Of
On the day of her 16th birthday, Ron entered the room where his granddaughter was celebrating with her friends and gave her his sentimental gift.
His present was a three-part notebook series of all the good times they had together when she was a little girl.
A Special Gift
Every day, Ron spent an hour documenting every movie they watched, every book they read, and all the inside jokes they shared all those years ago.
Ren's grandfather and her parents thought she would love his idea, but her reaction to Ron's surprise was rather different.
He Wanted Her To Remember
"I thought, kids don't know what they do when they're two, three, four, five, and I thought that would be kind of fun to just write down what we did that day," Ron said in an interview with ABC News.
In one of his notes, Ron talked about how they went to the mall one day.
She Was Emotional
Ren's grandfather described how she couldn't pronounce the word "elevator" and instead kept saying "alligator."
As Ren was reading her grandfather's notes, she burst into tears. She remembered one game she used to play with Ron all the time.
She Loved His Gift
"He used to do this 'See Ya' game, and he would run into the wall over and over and over, and I would die," Ren recalled.
She absolutely loved his gift. "I was astounded by what he had done," Ren said.
Beautiful Memories
She now had an entire notebook filled with the memories she had made with her grandfather.
Ren started to remember all the inside jokes and games they had played together when she was five years old.
She Shared The Story On Twitter
Ren turned to Twitter to share Ron's priceless gift. "Today, for my birthday, my grandpa gave me three books filled with stories of each time he hung out with me from the age of 2 and 5. I am speechless."
She was so proud of her grandfather and emotional from his birthday present to her.
It Went Viral
Ren's tweet quickly went viral, and so far, it has been retweeted 160,000 times!
"I'm hopefully gonna share what he did with my grandkids, and I'm gonna do the same for them," Ren told ABC News.