Never be ashamed of what you’re passionate about — that’s the lesson a bullied boy recently learned with the wholesome help of strangers online… and an astronaut! At 6 years old, Meg’s little brother loves all things related to space. To show off this love, he has some outer space shirts that feature cool designs like planets and astronauts. As much as he loves his clothes, some of the kids in his class don’t feel the same way.
In fact, some of them have been calling his space shirts “stupid.” Eventually, this got to the 6-year-old, prompting him to go home and throw away all of his outer space clothes. When his sister, Meg, discovered what he was doing, she stopped him. Then, tearfully, she shared his heartbreaking story online.
“Just me crying because my 6-year-old brother came home from school and threw away all his shirts with outer space … astronauts, and planets on them because some kids keep calling them stupid,” Meg writes in the video, adding in the caption, “Now he will only wear ‘cool’ cloths like Nike and [Under Armour], kindergartners are brutal.”
As soon as Meg shared this video, floods of kind comments poured in encouraging her brother to continue to wear his space clothes despite what his bullies say. Meg has made it a point to read many of these kind words to him and each of them have meant the world to them both. But one in particular stands out — a video message from a real astronaut, Jose Hernandez!
Astronaut Jose Hernandez Shares Encouraging Words With Bullied Boy
@macacochiquito0 #duet with @vanessa #josehernandez he got a little silly but he cant belive a real astronaut saw his video!! Afterwards he said okay maybeee ill wear my space shirts 🙂 #NASA ♬ original sound – vanessa
In the video, Hernandez shares that he understands what it’s like to be bullied. When he kept trying and failing to get hired by NASA, his friends called his attempts a “silly idea.” If he had listened to them, Fernandez points out, he never would have become an astronaut.
“You should not be afraid to wear your space-themed clothes,” Fernandez says. “You should be proud of them, and hopefully, if you study hard, I’ll see you working at NASA with me.”
Meg made a response video showing her brother’s live reaction, and it’s absolutely priceless! And although he’s not quite ready to wear his space shirts just yet, progress has been made.
“He got a little silly but he can’t believe a real astronaut saw his video!!” Meg writes. “Afterwards he said okay maybeee I’ll wear my space shirts.”
You can find the source of this story’s featured image here!
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