‘Happy Birthday Colin!’ on Facebook Hopes to Show One Little Boy He’s Not Alone

Colin, a ten year old in Michigan whose eleventh birthday is coming up next month on March 9th, told his mother that he didn’t want to have a birthday party this year because he didn’t have any friends to invite. It’s the last thing any parent wants to hear and it’s terrible for any child to think such a thing. Making friends had been particularly hard for the fifth grader who was diagnosed with a sensory processing disorder as well as another disorder similar to Aspergers.

But instead of being defeated and letting Colin continue to think he had no friends his mother decided to take action.

Jennifer started up a Facebook page simply called ‘Happy Birthday Colin‘ where friend, family, and their extended circles on Facebook could join and wish him a happy birthday. The plan is to show it to him on his birthday next month. A week ago Jennifer was excited to see that they had just over 100 likes. But when I came across a story about Colin on Yahoo.com the page already had 175,000 likes and as I am writing this now it has 201,000. Anyone want to make a wager as to how  many likes the page will have by the time I finish?

It’s not hard to understand why a story like this would be getting so much attention. I think a lot of us know what it’s like to be that kid in school who didn’t quite fit in. Growing up I frequently felt left out and sometimes it’s just not always easy to make friends. So when I heard about Colin’s story it really hit home. The Facebook page is full of stories from well wishers who have been in Colin’s shoes and want him to know that he’s not alone.

And let me tell you, this is one cool kid.

He deserves to know that people out there care and that he does have friends.

I mean, he loves Doctor Who, Pokemon, his Nintendo 3DS, and the color red. Pokemon, Doctor Who, and video games? Yup. This kid is basically one of us. Colin’s mother posted that he was so excited to tell her about all the people he “met” online through his 3DS from all over the world and I think we all know how much I love meeting people via my 3DS (and getting them to give me ALL THE VIVILLONS). Plus he’s got a sense of compassion the rest of us can probably only hope to have. Colin’s awesome and deserves to know it!

PO Box 756
Richland, MI 49083-0757

There were no instructions on who to address the cards to but I’m pretty sure “Happy Birthday, Colin!” works as good as anything else.

Also, heads up! If you know Colin in real life make sure you don’t tell him about this. Apparently some kids and teachers at school have mentioned ‘seeing him on the news’ and this is supposed to be a surprise!

The staff over at Nerdophiles is wishing Colin an awesome day and hope he never again has to feel like he’s got no friends. Because, Colin, you’ve got hundreds of thousands of us all around the world! If you need any Pokemon – just let me know. Cyndaquil, Totodile, Piplup, Turtwig… I got lost of cool ones!

And Jennifer? You rock. Mom of the year, right there!

Oh, and how many friends does Colin have on Facebook as of publication? 225,000! Keep them coming.