College Freshman's Viral Photos Pay Tribute To His Dad In The Best Way

He wanted to honor his dad

No matter how old our kids are, we still want to be there for them during the big moments — and the small. One college freshman showed in just two images how his father has made sure to back him up his entire life. A tweet of those photos has gone viral, because it’s just too sweet.

According to TODAY, Charles Brockman III moved into college this week. A freshman broadcast journalism and communications major at Mississippi State University, Brockman is the only child of Sherry and Charles Brockman Jr. As such, him leaving for college means his parents are starting life as empty nesters. They’ve spent the last 17 years raising their son, and now, he’s all grown up.

Check out these photos and try not to sob.

That’s Charles and his father, then and now. As the teen writes, “From the first day of kindergarten to college move in. Thank you dad.”

Gulp. Someone’s chopping onions.

The tweet quickly went viral, because it’s all too much.“I thought maybe my friends would like it and retweet it, but I was not expecting this at all,” says Charles III. For both kids starting college and their parents, this is the ultimate bittersweet moment. Yes, they’ve grown and are about to be flown, but it hurts to see them go.

“My dad is like my best friend. We have the same name and birthday,” Charles III tells Scary Mommy. “When I was born, he devoted all of his time to raising me and helping me grow to be a better person.”

“He has taken me to school almost every day of my life and I know it will be a huge change not seeing him every day and having our ‘car talks,'” he shares. “I will miss him so much and I know my parents will have to adjust to being empty nesters, but they will definitely come to every track meet and fly me home every chance we get.”

Both viral photos were taken by Sherry and reflect not only the Texas family’s tradition of being with Charles on each first day of school, but also, the strong relationship between father and son.

“Sometimes fathers don’t get enough credit so I just had to pay it forward to him and thank him for all the years he’s been there for me,” the younger Charles tells TODAY. Because not only is his dad a supportive parent, he’s also been his personal track coach throughout all of high school.

“At track meets, a lot of times I’ve seen parents go up to their kids or sons and be told, ‘Don’t touch me. Don’t hug me in public.’ And he hugs me. We tell each other we love each other all the time,” says Charles Jr.

In addition to missing his son, Charles shares that his dad will also have to trust someone else to be his track coach. “I know he might have a hard time handing me to a completely new program, but I’m in great hands!”

Dad admits to being a little sad about his upcoming life as an empty nester, but he’s doing his best to help his son focus and remember what he taught him. “I was telling him, like I always do on the first day of school, keep your head down, stay out of trouble, remember what you’re coming here for, get good grades – all that stuff,” he tells TODAY.

Though we understand how hard it is to let go, it sounds like this family only has reason to celebrate both the past and what’s to come.

“I’m so proud of him. He’s a really good kid, a really good student.”