Not everyone gets to turn 104, and when you do, you hope to have done enough good to have people celebrate your life. Gerald was certainly one of them and he was celebrated more than he could have ever imagined. It all started when his son, Kevin Mills, reached out to Twitter and announced that his father was turning 104 and asked if people could send him wishes.
Mills also shared an adorable image of his father. “This is my dad, Gerald. He turns 104 on 12 July,” tweeted Mills. “Any chance I can muster 104 happy birthdays from Twitter? He’ll be amazed and baffled in equal measure.” The simple birthday wish turned into an adorable thread of people sharing images and birthdays of people they loved, with a majority of them featuring aged grandparents.
“Star Wars” legend Mark Hamill, who played Luke Skywalker in the series, wrote “For Gerald” and shared an emoji of a cake. Even Stephen Fry, the English actor and comedian, got in on the act, writing, “Happy birthday Gerald! xx” Another person shared a picture with his grandmother and her sister while wishing Gerald. “Can we get 105 likes for my 105-year-old grandma Mary on the left and 104 likes for her 104-year-old sister Tina in the middle? This is from my visit today with them where they each both live in their own houses on their own.”
The simple tweet turned into a campaign and even made it to the radio. “Happy Birthday Gerald from 94.5 KHI in Ocean City, MD,” read a tweet, before linking a video of the host talking about it on the radio. Sharon Steed shared an image of her late dad sitting on the sofa next to an adorable dog. “Happy birthday, Gerald!! My dad made it to 86 (this is him before he passed this past Christmas with my dog, Washington); he probably would have talked your ear off and eaten all the cake with you today!”
