"This always happens," the devastated boy told his mother.
"He said it in the most broken voice I've ever heard," Day said. "It happened once before, but this time something snapped in me and it was like no, this is not happening to him again."
Desperate to cheer up her son, she posted a message on the Nextdoor neighborhood website.
"I think I'm posting this out of utter emotional distress ... but I need to ask if anyone wants to come to an 8 yr old boys birthday party to show him that he's loved and valued as a person," she wrote. "NO gifts are required other than the gift of friendship."
No responses came in right away, so Day thought of a last resort. She and her husband drove to the Hurst Police Department and asked whether an officer might come see her son, who has always wanted to be a policeman.
Soon after she and her husband got home, the station's entire shift showed up at her front door â with a few Hurst firefighters, too.
CMCliff on May 30th, 2017 at 16:34 UTC »
I don't think I was even allowed to miss a birthday I was invited to.... I guess this kind of stuff is why
battousaiyngwie on May 30th, 2017 at 16:15 UTC »
"So tell me how was your birthday?" "It was sick! party so hard the police had to show up"
KhunDavid on May 30th, 2017 at 16:12 UTC »
I still remember my birthday party when I turned 6. My birthday is January 1st, and I insisted my party was to be on that day. The anticipation I had for my party turned into devastation when nobody showed up for it.
I also had no idea that hungover parents would not want to attend an event with a dozen or so screaming kids doped up on cake and Kool-Aid.