A video of an 89-year-old TikToker being stood up on his first date in 30 years went viral after eliciting sympathy from thousands of social media users.
On February 12, GrandadJoe–a.k.a. TikToker @grandadjoe1933–posted a video with an overlaying text that read:
"Come with me on my first dinner date in 30 years!"
The clip started with promise as the octogenarian checked his hair in the mirror and arrived at the restaurant where he was "waiting patiently" for his date to arrive.
Sadly, his table wound up being for a party of one.
He pulled out his cell phone and checked to see if his date had canceled on him.
After not hearing from her and waiting for an hour, he said he ate alone.
The clip ended with his elbows on the table and chin resting on his clasped hands as he looked around at the other diners enjoying their respective company.
The clip was viewed over one million times, and TikTokers flooded the post with encouraging words.
@grandadjoe1933/TikTok
@grandadjoe1933/TikTok
@grandadjoe1933/TikTok
@grandadjoe1933/TikTok
@grandadjoe1933/TikTok
One suspicious user presumed "Someone was with you holding the camera," to which another commenter responded:
"Maybe he ate w the filmer- all good."
Joe has mentioned in previous clips he was married before.
In the clip below, Joe explained that he and his late wife were best friends as children.
At 18, Joe said he went off to serve in the war and in that time, she wound up marrying his brother.
Joe later reconnected with her "many years later" after his brother died.
The two best friends from childhood eventually fell in love, got married, and stayed together until she died.
He wrote in the text overlay in the following clip:
"She was the love of my life and my soul mate. I miss her everyday."
People remained moved by this widow's life story.
@grandadjoe1933/TikTok
@grandadjoe1933/TikTok
@grandadjoe1933/TikTok
Here he is in one of the last photos taken with his wife where he applied an angel filter.
"What do we think, I feel it’s kind of beautiful," he wrote in the caption with the hashtags #spiritual #wings and #widow.
@grandadjoe1933/TikTok
@grandadjoe1933/TikTok
@grandadjoe1933/TikTok
Grandadjoe is from the UK and has over 6.2 million followers.
His TikTok page features "family friendly content"–with many videos covering his day-in-the-life vlogs, TikTok dance videos, and jokes.
He also regularly features his loving granddaughter and posts video remembrances of his late wife.