What If No One RSVPs To Your Kid's Birthday Party?

“Some of you have seen me post about my son, Odin. His struggles with bullying, his difficulties with Aspergers. Well, today is his 13th birthday. And, unfortunately, not one kid RSVP’d to his birthday ‘hang out’ invite. 🙁 I’m really struggling with finding a way to make today awesome for him, when it will just be us celebrating.”

As Camus went ahead with her party planning—balloon avalanche, lots of gifts, and a special dinner—but scaling it back for just family, Canadian news and entertainment company PTBO ran an article about Odin’s birthday, asking readers to text him happy birthday and stop by the bowling alley for his party. The good wishes went viral and soon celebrities like Carrie Underwood and Elijah Wood were tweeting birthday wishes. Canadian sports teams jumped on the bandwagon: Odin got tweets from members of the Raptors, the Blue Jays, and the Maple Leafs.

By Friday night #odinbirthday was the top trend on Twitter, and more than 11,000 birthday tweets had been directed to Odin. He got 5,000 birthday texts on his new phone (a gift). Perhaps best of all, hundreds of well-wishers showed up at the bowling alley to celebrate, some with cards and gifts. The Peterborough Examiner reports that some of the attendees either had Aspergers themselves or were close with those that did, and wanted to express their sympathy and solidarity with Odin.

No word from the original 15 non-attendees, who are probably lying low both on social media and around town. But no matter: Odin is stoked by all the attention: “It’s amazing how people care. I feel absolutely amazing.”