RICHMOND, Va. -- Thanks to the kindness of strangers, a young child's birthday party was saved last month as Tropical Storm Ophelia made its way through Richmond.
KT Hawkins said the party was to celebrate her four-year-old, Kruz, and to give her friends in Richmond a chance to meet him and reconnect with her -- as she lived in the city until 2015.
She now lives in North Carolina with Kruz and her husband, Kyle.
"Everyone was going to just celebrate his birthday. We'll get to see him, we'll get to catch up with you. That was the plan," said KT and she had booked the Children's Museum of Richmond for the party months ago.
However, the party fell on the same day Ophelia came through the River City. KT said she considered canceling the party, but decided against it.
"I had to lean into my faith, just pray about it. Still continue to hope that things will work out for the good. Didn't know what that would look like. But that's what I felt," recalled KT.
But on the day of the party, KT said by the time they had set up, all the guests had canceled.
"And of course, we weren't upset we think parents should do what's best for their children," said KT. What was best for her child was saving Kruz's party. "I had to remain happy and in good spirits, because Kruz was feeding off me, you know, his face was a bit downturned. He's looking around thinking 'Okay, where is everyone, Mama?'"
KT said while Kyle took Kruz around to some of the exhibits, KT began talking to families that were just visiting the museum for the day.
"Started with a mom and I explained the situation someone behind her heard what was going on said 'Oh, we're fine with joining in, too.'," said KT, who added they had a full room by the time her husband and son returned. "It went from like three to four people to about a room of about 25.
"It was a surprise and a shock," said Kyle. "The people were really great. And they just treated Kruz like they've known him for a long time."
KT said everyone sang Happy Birthday and everything played out like a regular party.
"He went from being kind of glum and sullen to 'Oh my gosh, Mom, I'm so excited.'."
For the staff at the museum helping the Hawkins with their party, watching what happened was miraculous, but not surprising knowing their members.
"I think we are a community of people who care a lot about what we stand for. We all, sort of, have a stake in this idea of providing for kids, for making a safe, fun place to come play. Our regular members know that just as much as we do. They care about it just as much as we do," said Play Lead Monte Vandersyde. "We have a community of people who care a lot about kids about their kids about other people's kids about the work that we do to help out our community."
"I think by the end there was a genuine happiness, that they had a genuine relief, a genuine joy that everything managed to work out," they added. "Positivity paid off. Exactly. You keep putting good in and you get good out type of situation, you know. They kept their head high and they were able to be rewarded for that."
For KT, she said it would not be her first miracle and she called Kruz her "miracle baby". She said she had lost a pregnancy in the past and both she and Kyle are older parents. She said when the two married in 2018, a snowstorm caused her to miss her birth control before her honeymoon but was told not to worry about it.
"And we brought back that little souvenir from Puerto Rico."
Now, that "little souvenir" has a very special memory thanks to the kindness a group of strangers.
KT said she is grateful to the support of the staff from the museum and the families that became last-minute guests. She added while she never got any of their names, she hopes they know just how much it meant.
"In a world that seems so dark and broken, that was just a reminder that there's still light and love in this world."
KT said they plan to come back to the museum in the future for another shot at the reconnecting with her Richmond friends.
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