NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — A birthday wish is different for all of us, and this one's certainly unique. For anyone who got to be there to see it, it was unforgettable.
"How you doin'? Sean Kenner asked a customer as he bagged another set of groceries at a Kroger on Gallatin Ave.
"I'm usually bagging," he said. "I'm usually the cashier. It keeps me super busy all day, every day."
"Y'all have a good one!" Sean called after a pair of customers.
"Anything y'all need, me and my man got ya!" a coworker shouted, jumping next to Sean.
"For sure! For sure!" Sean laughed.
Indeed, Sean was on a job unlike any other day, something he was happy to do.
You see, customer Jessica Fuller has a young son named Malachi.
"He was actually born with a birth defect called an encephalocele," Jessica explained. "So, he has been special needs since birth. He was diagnosed with autism a little after the age of two. An ADHD diagnosis followed shortly after that."
Malachi's long had an interest in the behind-the-scenes of how grocery stores work. With her son's ninth birthday approaching, Jessica made a post on Facebook to see if her son could get a tour somewhere. It was Sean's Kroger, the place Malachi visits the most, that reached out to Jessica.
"It was like last month, they told me about someone's birthday," Sean said. "I was like, 'I'm down to do it!'"
Then came a birthday surprise. Jessica walked in with Malachi as Kroger staff sang Happy Birthday. He was greeted with balloons and cupcakes, and a Kroger hat, apron, and Malachi name tag.
"What does that say?" Jessica asked.
"Malachi," her son answered.
"Want to put your hat on?"
"He's ready!" Sean shouted as Malachi turned around in his full Kroger uniform and held his name tag.
Sean took Malachi on a tour of all the spots he's wanted to see.
"This is the bakery right here," he said, the two of them walking behind counters.
It was a grand day after Malachi's journey so far.
"We have had seven surgeries now," Jessica said. "We have had vision issues, and he had to have surgery to fix the encephalocele as well as a plate put in the back of his head cause the skull didn't form properly. He has overcome a lot of hurdles to get where we are now."
"This is what you've wanted to see forever!" Jessica said as Malachi excitedly jumped up and down in a back room.
"Well, you're seeing it!" Sean added.
"I couldn't keep up with him," Sean laughed. "I'm following him most the time. Good kid right there, man."
"We love looking at things that aren't what you get to see on the average day," Jessica said. "Generally, you don't go to Kroger for a birthday, especially for the backroom or the freezers! It's very encouraging just to see people embrace this unique interest."
"I guess he's leading me now!" Sean said, following Malachi as he hurried from one place to the next.
Do you have a positive, good news story? You can email me at forrest.sanders@newschannel5.com.
The line ''see something, say something" took on new meaning recently in Bowling Green. Two alert neighbors helped tip police to stolen Corvettes from the nearby assembly plant. That led law enforcement to find 8 stolen Corvettes worth over $1 million. We may all be able to learn a little lesson from this.
-Lelan Statom
