- Welcome back!
I'm here with Kelsea Ballerini and Topher Grace.
(Audience cheering)
It is a fact of life, everyone struggles,
and if they say they aren't they're a liar.
And when it happens, we often do feel alone in the world,
and my next guest understands this all too well.
She's a Tennessee native, just like Kelsea,
and this summer she posted a heartbreaking video on TikTok
about a birthday party she was planning
for her younger sister.
Take a look.
- If a kid in your child's class
gives out birthday invitations, just come.
My little sister turns eight tomorrow.
Her birthday party is going to be this weekend.
Our mom died of brain cancer 83 days ago.
One, one child from her class RSVP'd.
I haven't even told her that.
At the end of the day, that shouldn't be me.
It should be our mom, my mom should be doing this.
My mom's not here!
- Woo! Like, every time the video just destroys me,
every time.
The video was shared widely, and what happened next
should remind all of us that we are never truly alone.
We'll get to that a little later,
but first meet Chloe, who made the TikTok, everybody.
(Audience claps)
So, this is Topher, this is Kelsea.
- Nice to meet you.
- I know you're trying to fight it too,
I see it in your eyes, it's hard.
Woo!
So we're, we are all so sorry for your loss.
There's no words that can say anymore than that.
So, I'm just very sorry for your loss in the first place.
But, tell us about your mama.
- My mom was incredible.
She was, she was a really magnetic person.
She's the kind of person everybody gravitates towards.
She had me when she was about 21,
so it was kind of always just me and her.
And she was kind of parent who,
even though she was a single parent,
which is a whole other feat in itself,
she was at every PTA meeting, she was volunteering,
she was always there.
She taught me, more than anything,
that you don't have to be one thing in life.
It's not all said and done.
You pick what your career is gonna be.
You can be so many things.
- [Kelly] Yeah.
- And she really gave that to me.
But, most shockingly probably,
I was 16 years old when she was diagnosed with brain cancer.
And again, it was just me and her.
So, getting through that was kind of tough.
She had a really serious brain surgery,
she had radiation, she learned to walk again,
she learned to talk again.
And then, just like her she just bounced back from it,
like it never happened.
And she went right back to life as normal.
Like, well that was a weird speed bump in life. And-
- Yeah.
- So she, she got through that, and when I was 20 years old
she met someone, and she had my little sister.
So I was a little, I was a little- (laughs)
- [Kelly] Yeah, yeah. (laughing)
- It took me a while to get to the other side of that.
- [Kelly] I was a little- yeah.
- [Chloe] Like, I'm 20 years old,
I'm in college and my mother was pregnant.
- [Kelly] Yeah.
- [Chloe] So that was interesting.
But the moment I met her.
I was there when she was born, and the moment I met her
it just, it changed my life.
- [Kelly] Yeah.
- [Kelly] She changed me,
and that was probably the best moment of my life, so.
- So, when did your mom's cancer come back?
- So, it actually came back four times.
So, she, within 11 years, she got sick again
and she would have a major surgery
and they would do radiation,
they would do chemo, they would do-
- What a fighter!
- Both at the same time.
And, every time it kind of became a pattern
in life, weirdly, that you would get used to.
You know, if, if you think it's normal, it becomes normal.
So, okay, Mom gets sick, mom does the thing, she gets better
and she just bounces back, and that's how it is.
But, in November we kind of knew that it was different.
Her health wasn't bouncing back,
and that's when we kind of knew
we were coming towards the end.
- So that brings us back to the video.
So what was going on when you made it?
- So, our mom ended up passing in April of this year.
And obviously, I had always promised her,
because her and Charlotte's father had split,
that I was going to do everything in my power
to raise Charlotte as my own
and give her the childhood she gave me.
Include her in the kind of things she included me in,
and teach her the same values.
And I, I held that promise.
And when my mom passed,
Charlotte became part of our family full time,
and she had switched schools.
So, obviously it's a huge transition-
- Yeah.
- To do when you're losing your mom.
And, she lost a lot of her original friends,
and I made sure I was sending invitations
to those new friends, to that new class to tell them
about her birthday coming up in July.
And yeah, one child RSVP'd to her party.
- Which look, I'm a mama and you throw parties,
and I, even my daughter's last one I was freaking out,
cause I'm like, are people responding?
Like, are they gonna come?
Like, you know, cause your kid gets so excited.
They, they get, they get so excited.
Such a magical day, they feel so special and, it's,
I can't, I can't imagine that.
Like did you ever have a problem when you were a kid?
Cause, I was the kid too, I was kind of,
I know everybody thinks I was probably such an extrovert
but, once again, I wasn't.
And, I didn't have like, I had like a core couple friends
but, I didn't have like huge parties growing up like that,
or anything.
Did y'all have that growing up?
Did you have that kind of-
- No, mine was mostly family and a couple,
couple close friends.
- [Kelly] Yeah.
- Yeah.
- I was wildly unpopular,
but, but I didn't have this kind of a situation,
I can't imagine.
- So Chloe, what happened after you posted the video?
- I woke up the next morning and I, I got on TikTok
expecting to see, you know,
it's always gonna be a little bit ugly,
a little bit great.
But, it was overwhelmingly amazing.
Every inbox on every social media platform
was just full of people asking, "How can we help?"
Or telling me, "Oh, I've already connected with so and so
and found out what city you live in, and we've already
found ways to help. Can you give me your personal number,
so we can make this happen on her birthday?"
- And (laughs),
they were just piling on asking, "What can we do?"
- Were you just in tears?
- [Chloe] (laughs) I was! Yeah!
- I would've been just weeping. I would-
- Yeah, I was.
- Cause sometimes, you know, we're shown
that the world can just be crap sometimes,
and people can be very not cool and unkind,
and like, then something like this happens
and it's, it's magical.
So what was the party?
What did it end up being like?
- So essentially I, I started saying yes.
I'm like, do you wanna help?
If you wanna make that, you wanna bring a kid,
please bring 'em.
I've never met you before in my life, but bring 'em.
- Yeah, yeah.
- So, I was giving out my personal address-
(Kelly laughs)
- Doing everything I could.
So, the first thing that happened was I got in contact,
this woman named Taylor actually found me
and got in connection with me, and she was like,
"I have a little girl around Charlotte's age.
Can I bring her? Can I help you decorate?"
And another woman, Abby was like,
"I'll come and decorate at the same time too."
And a woman named Cindy set up like,
all these giant balloon garlands
and numbers filled with balloons.
And, this woman named Libby actually came from Oxford,
Mississippi, with her horse, Miss Gracie,
who she put glitter all over-
- [Kelly] Oh!
- [Chloe] And pompoms, and brought her
and all the kids got to take pony rides.
Then, this Jeep line showed up.
It was about 30 Jeeps full of people
just pulling through and handing her gifts,
and pulling through and singing her happy birthday songs.
There was also a woman named Alyssa-
- [Kelly] My goodness!
- [Chloe] From Caden's Critters.
And she brought these like, giant pythons. (laughs)
- [Kelly] Yeah.
- And lizards.
And, the kids did these like big, this like expo,
essentially, where they learned about reptiles
and got to hold them.
And, Charlotte's face, just throughout all of it.
She was floored, she was absolutely floored-
- [Kelly] Yeah.
- Obviously.
This is also her first birthday party ever.
Our mom, when you have a parent who is in and out of chemo
and during a pandemic, you don't necessarily have the energy
or time that other parents have
so this was her first party ever.
- Or, health wise, you're not supposed to be around people.
You get sick very easily.
- Yeah, yeah.
- Oh my gosh.
Did, did I, I've never had a party like that. (laughs)
(Chloe laughs)
- Like wait, I know.
My, my only question is like,
what are you doing next year? (laughs)
(Kelsea laughs)
- I set the bar. (laughs)
- I know!
I was like, the bar has been set!
I was like-
- It's a bit high, it's a bit high.
Yeah.
- It's so good.
Well Taylor, in our audience, was one of the helpers.
So Taylor, what made you reach out?
- So when I first saw the video,
I mean, it just broke my heart.
Cause, like she said, I have a daughter
that's the same age as Charlotte
and I think that every child should feel special and loved,
especially on their birthday.
So, I reached out to see if maybe we could come,
and even if we were the only ones there,
we were gonna make it great.
So, but then the whole community of Memphis showed up,
and it was just incredible, the whole day.
Just, I mean twist and turns all day long.
We've actually had play dates since then,
and we've become really good friends
and planned to maintain that friendship and-
- [Kelly] Yeah.
- Charlotte and Audrey, my daughter, get along great.
So, it's just been a blessing
to get to know her and her whole family.
- Oh, what a beautiful ending!
(Audience applauds)
I just love too, like you, you didn't know her!
But you were like, look, we don't have to know people.
You know what I'm saying?
You don't have to.
You can say, "God, I sympathize.
I have empathy for what's going on here because I realized
how devastating that is."
Like when, anyway..
Fine, fine...
It, I think it's time to meet the birthday girl,
cause I'm gonna hug her, she's gonna feel uncomfortable.
Charlotte, come on out! (laughs)
(Audience cheering)
- [Kelly] (Laughs) Oh my gosh.
Nice to see you!
(Audience continues cheering)
Aw, you're so cute!
Say hi to Kelsea, and Topher!
- Hi!
- [Kelsea] Can I hug you?
- Yeah.
- Oh my gosh!
- Very nice to meet you!
- What's up, nice to meet you!
- You look so beautiful in your,
in your, your cute little skirt.
- Gonna come sit down?
- Oh my gosh, have a seat.
Oh my God, Charlotte.
First of all, it's like you and Kelsea,
everybody called each other with this color palette.
- [Kelsea] Yeah.
(Chloe laughs)
- [Kelly] But I have to ask-
- Can I join the family? (laughs)
- (laughs) Yeah, like, cause your birthday looked awesome!
I want a birthday like that,
was it so much fun?
What was your favorite part?
- My favorite part was meeting all those people
and making new friends.
(Audience applauds)
- Aw, that's awesome.
Oh my gosh you, your smile is my son's smile right now.
(Chloe and Charlotte laugh)
He lost the same tooth like, a couple days ago
and I'm just like, it's so cute.
(Chloe and Charlotte laugh)
Ah, well we want you to be able to create
even more awesome memories.
So, we are sending you on a family vacation
to enjoy a four night, five day luxury,
included vacation to Beaches Turks & Caicos.
It's incredible.
(Audience cheers)
This amazing, all inclusive resort
features magnificent villages,
plenty of gourmet restaurants,
beautiful beaches for sand castles.
An array of activities for kids of every age,
and endless fun and memories for everyone.
You're gonna love it.
It's the most beautiful place ever.
(Chloe laughs)
I hope you have so much fun and make some friends there.
You are so beautiful.
- Thank you.
- [Kelly] Oh my gosh.