As the adage goes, “a picture is worth 1,000 words.” In this case, it may be worth 1,000 ugly cries.
One family was left in tears after their son’s unexpected reaction to his sister’s Pre-Kindergarten graduation.
Parents Aundrea and Matthew Smith captured the emotional moment when young 8-year-old Derek embraced his little sister, 5-year-old Charlee, as tears started to roll down his cheeks.
Aundrea describes what Derek told Charlee in a Facebook post. "‘I’m just so proud of you’ he said. Then of course my daughter started crying. As we wiped away our tears, my husband asked her, 'Pumpkin, why are you crying?' She responded, 'I’m just so happy.' We are so blessed.”
At that point, Aundrea says it caused a chain reaction, and everyone turned into a basket case.
“My husband was already crying. I then looked over and saw my son crying which of course made me cry. After hearing our son tell his sister how proud he was of her, my husband and I felt so blessed. Moments like this allow us to take a breath and just be proud of who they are,” Aundrea told InsideEdition.com.
The Connecticut resident, who didn’t want to reveal where her daughter attends school, says the reaction totally shocked her.
“We are an emotional family; however, we were surprised that our son broke down in tears. Charlee admires Derek so much. She wants to do anything and everything he does and Derek is a great big brother. They definitely have their moments when they get on each others nerves, but they are very close. They love each other so much,” Aundrea said.
Social media users were just as emotional over the photo.
"This gives us all hope that parents are still raising loving kids! Great job!" one person wrote.
"WOW! Makes tears roll down my face!! LOVE this!!" said another.
If this is their reaction at this ceremony, Aundrea says her family might not be able to contain themselves at the next.
“At the next graduation Derek will probably need to leave the auditorium,” she joked.
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