PENNSYLVANIA (KRON) — It was a message that reminded us of what the holidays are really about.
A Pennsylvania man and disabled vet tells a local TV station that he spends holidays and his birthday alone every year.
A crowd of over 100 people, mostly strangers, gathered in Archbald on the rainy Thanksgiving morning just to wish one man a happy holiday
The night before Thanksgiving, viewers of Pennsylvania’s WNEP News heard a simple request during a talkback 16 segment from a man who has spent his holidays alone for 15 years and just wants someone to keep him company.
“I’ve got a request.. I don’t want no food. How about some friends. Fifteen years, I haven’t have anybody to spend Thanksgiving with, my birthday, Christmas, New Year’s. It’s getting boring as hell, but I love what you’re doing to help other people.”
That one phone call led hundreds of other viewers to reach out to the news channel, asking how they could find this man.
The news station was flooded with phone calls and messages on social media.
So they gave him a call back.
“I seriously though it was a joke.”
Nope, the station wasn’t messing around.
They learned his name is Carl Braun.
He’s a 60-year-old disabled veteran who lives in Archbald.
The station put a call out on social media to meet at a park in the borough so they could surprise him.
Mission accomplished.
“I just could not believe that that many people did have open hearts, that cared,” Braun said.
The veteran went from having no plans, and no one to spend the holiday with, to having more invitations than he knew what to do with.
“We would like to invite you to our house. We live in Archbald we’re gonna eat at 4. Can we come pick you up?”
He’s already booked for Thanksgiving dinner, and a Christmas Eve party.
“In over 25 years, since I lost my mom, this is one of the first Thanksgivings where I can actually say, I’m having fun.”
Now Braun has one more message he wants you to hear: Keep your hearts open all year long, not just around the holidays.