LONGVIEW, Texas (KLTV) – It’s a rite of passage for most kids: hosting a birthday party at the roller rink.

For Adalynn Gonzalez of Longview, an ice rink party was her dream, and she couldn’t wait to share it with her friends at school.

“I invited all my friends from class,” Adalynn said.

When the party was ready to start, the table was set, the pizza and cake were ready to be eaten, but Adalynn was left alone on the rink.

“It broke my heart to see her wondering if she was going to have the party without her friends, so I felt like I had to do something to fix it,” said Misty Oneal, Adalynn’s grandmother.

Oneal went on Facebook. She shared a post with a distraught message that her niece’s invitations were not shows.

“I’ve been on the All Things Longview page for a while now and I’ve seen good and bad things posted about certain situations and call it being a grandma or what have you, but I wanted other people to know how much it didn’t feel right.” Oneal said.

Little did Oneal and Adalynn know that East Texas was taking care of him.

“Shortly after it was posted, we started getting messages and comments about whether or not the party was canceled or if there was still time,” Oneal said.

One by one, the strangers began to enter the rink to celebrate Adalynn’s birthday.

“We got video messages, even some people showed up with gifts. I had no idea how they did it all so fast, but man did it feel good to see her so happy and thankful for those people I never even met,” Oneal said.

The only thing that could have made the party better was if Adalynn’s grandfather had been able to make it. Oneal says her late husband never missed an event or a birthday party. The family believes he was watching over them that day.

Next year, the family plans to post an invitation to Adalynn’s 11th birthday party on the “All Things Longview” Facebook page, with the hope that they’ll get to see the friends she just met and never met. never imagined sharing memories.

“It meant a lot to me,” Adalynn said.

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