KELLER, Texas — All Willa Fitzgerald wanted for her fifth birthday was a party.
The invitations went out. A few responses trickled in.
Her mom, Lex Fitzgerald, quickly realized many of her daughter’s classmates and friends couldn’t attend.
It’s summer and a busy time for family vacations, but there were enough people who said they’d be there to move ahead with the big event.
Saturday morning, mom and daughter showed up at Hat Creek Burger Company in Keller with all the party supplies – crayons, crowns, a cake – and Lex began to decorate.
“I lost track of time,” she said. “I went to check my phone and it was 11:20. The party had started at 11. Poor Willa was sitting there alone waiting for her friends to arrive.”
Lex began to question whether she put the wrong time or day on the invitations, but then reality set in.
“I’m thinking to myself, no, this cannot be what’s happening. As a mom, the last thing I want is for my daughter, for the first time ever at 5 years old, to experience that type of social rejection – honestly, that’s what it is.”
In what she called a “bat signal” move, Lex posted a picture of Willa alone at the decorated party table in the Keller, Texas Neighborly Group on Facebook.
“If anyone has young kids and is looking for something to do right now, no one showed up to my daughter’s birthday party. It’s her first (and likely last) party. We’d love to celebrate with you,” she wrote.
Within minutes, Lex said Hat Creek had no empty tables.
“All walks of life showed up for my baby girl today,” Lex said hours after the party. “It was incredible.”
Teenagers, grandparents, empty nesters who were total strangers showed up to love on Willa. Even the assistant principal of Willa’s brother’s school. Many of them brought gifts.
Kids were laughing and playing, and moms were hugging, Lex said.
“We moved to Texas in general, and then specifically Keller, because we saw that community feel. They were down to earth, kind, cared about supporting others. And that’s exactly what they did for our family," she said.
Holding a Barbie she received as a present, Willa told WFAA that her day was “good” and her favorite gift she opened was “all of them.”
Lex said she and Willa made a lot of new friends and got invited to several other kids’ birthday parties.
“We’re going to show up to all of them,” she said.