Deanna was a loving mother with a great idea in mind. Wanting to surprise her daughter, McKenna, she decided that she would show up at her college one day ahead of schedule.
Deanna might’ve thought this was a sweet idea, but if you’re thinking what we’re thinking, it’s a terrible idea! No college student wants a surprise visit from their mom. Soon, her idea would backfire horribly.
Deanna and her daughter, McKenna, had a close relationship. When McKenna was all grown up and getting ready to leave for college, Deanna was surprised to learn that her New Yorker daughter wanted to go to Utah State University.
This broke the young mother’s heart. She couldn’t stand the idea of McKenna living across the country. But she was also aware of the fact that it was important for her daughter to spread her wings and leave the nest.
It was the day before McKenna was expected to fly back to New York for the summer. Missing her daughter, Deanna suddenly had an idea in mind. She wanted to surprise her at college!
But Deanna would soon learn why it was such a horrible idea to visit her kid at college.
She made up her mind, deciding that it was a wonderful idea to show up in Utah a day earlier without telling McKenna that she was coming. She couldn’t wait to see her lovely daughter.
She expected McKenna to be overjoyed! Who wouldn’t love a surprise visit from their mom?
She didn’t mention a single word of it to her daughter, quickly hopping onto her computer to book a last-minute plane ticket from New York City to Utah. Excitement was bubbling within her, she hadn’t seen her daughter in forever! She missed her so much.
But she had no idea that she was about to face the surprise of a lifetime. In a few hours, she would be just as surprised as her unexpecting daughter.
Just before boarding her flight, Deanna tried calling McKenna, subtly trying to figure out if she had any plans for that evening. The phone rang for a while, but there was no answer.
There was nothing she could do now. As she got onto her flight, she hoped that her daughter would be home for the evening. Hopefully, they could go out and have a nice dinner together!
After a five-hour flight, they finally landed in Logan, Utah. During the entire flight, she had a wide smile on her face. She hadn’t been this excited in a long time. She was certain that this was one of the best ideas she’d ever had.
Once she was out of the airport, she got into a cab and headed straight for Utah State, but as she did, her phone began to ring.
McKenna had seen her mother’s missed call and was calling her back. Deanna began to panic when she saw her daughter’s name on her phone screen. She didn’t want to ruin her epic surprise! This was why she quickly decided to deny the call.
She wanted to talk to McKenna, but she feared that if she answered the phone, McKenna would be able to catch on to her plan.
Deanna had only been on campus once before. It was during the fall semester when she was helping McKenna move into her dorm room. It was now nine months later, and Deanna couldn’t quite remember where her daughter’s dorm was.
She was a little lost as she wandered around, trying her best to remember where her daughter was staying.
Deanna was surprised to see how many students and parents were roaming the campus. She figured that they were all packing up to return home for the summer. It was a busy, but friendly atmosphere.
As Deanna walked around campus, she began feeling overwhelmed. It felt like the university was a lot larger than she remembered it being just nine months ago.
Deanna had to make sure she was not seen before getting to her daughter’s dorm.
She tried to look around cautiously to see if she spotted familiar faces.
After wandering around the campus for quite some time, she finally found her daughter’s building. Once she was in the building, she spotted a few of Mckenna’s friends.
She recognized them through social media posts. Deanna was relieved because at least she found the correct building.
Deanna hopped on the elevator and went up to McKenna’s floor. She was nervous.
This was the longest amount of time that they had gone without seeing each other. She walked to her door and knocked on it.
Deanna stood outside while she waited to see her daughter’s reaction. She was hoping that her daughter would be happy to see her, but no one answered.
She knocked again, but there was no one inside the dorm room.
Deanna realized the door was unlocked when she could jiggle the handle. The mother thought it was weird that McKenna wouldn’t lock her door.
But Deanna still opened the door, not knowing what she would find.
When she entered the room, she saw that there were a few girls packing up their stuff. Deanna said hello to them and went into McKenna’s room.
Her room as completely empty though, so Deanna was afraid that she screwed this whole plan up.
McKenna’s room was spotless.
She removed everything from the walls and all of her belongings were neatly packed in boxes.
Deanna was exhausted after a long day of traveling. The only thing that was left in McKenna’s room was her bed that was still covered in blankets and pillows.
She thought to herself that it was a good idea to hang out until she returned. She decided to put down her bags, take off her shoes, and lay in her daughter’s bed.
Deanna then thought it was not a good idea if she fell asleep because she thought it would be a waste of a surprise. Instead, she came up with a better idea.
She was going to let her daughter know that she was on campus but in a classic mom way.
Deanna took a selfie of laying in McKenna’s bed and she knew that her daughter will be shocked that she flew all this way to see her.
And when McKenna replied, she was surprised, but not in the way that Deanna hoped.
McKenna asked, “Where that??” Deanna frowned at her phone. How did McKenna not recognize her very own bed? McKenna sent another text, “I’m in my dorm. Please tell me you’re not in someone else’s dorm.”
Deanna started to freak out. How could this be possible?
Deanna bolted out of bed. If this wasn’t McKenna’s dorm, then where was she? She ran out of the room and halfway down the hallway. Deanna texted back, “I am in the wrong dorm omg.”
She made her way down the hall laughing at her terrible mistake.
“I felt sick to my stomach because I’ve already said hi to several people in the dorm and they probably have no idea who I was,” said McKenna’s mother.
Deanna then laughed and said, “I thought, ‘Oh, my gosh, I didn’t even look at the name of the building. I could be in the wrong building!”
Thankfully, the room Deanna set foot in was a friend of McKenna’s who lived down the hall from her.
Deanna’s daughter found the whole situation HYSTERICALLY FUNNY that she took to Twitter to post her Mom’s selfies and text messages.
McKenna’s friend, the girl whose dorm Deanna had been in, didn’t know about the whole situation until a few days later.
“She commented on it and was like, ‘Is that my pillow?’” McKenna said. Right after, the tweet and photo went viral. The response shocked both Deanna and McKenna.
McKenna said, “We weren’t expecting anything of it, I just thought friends and family would see it but now it’s completely gone everywhere.”
The college student said that her mom was always filled with surprises and this one was the funniest. Deanna, on the other hand, was not too keen about all of the attention.
Even though it was a terrible mistake, Deanna was relieved that she had so many people laughing, including her daughter.
McKenna does have one issue though: “Every time I refresh my feed more retweets and favorites pop up, and now all my mom has to say is, “‘I wish I would’ve taken a better picture!’”
Deanna still looked back fondly at the wholesome and somewhat embarrassing experience. But this wouldn’t be the last time a selfie of hers stirred up controversy. Thanks to a simple selfie, she had no idea her life was about to change forever.
It would be such a nonchalant thing that it wouldn’t impact her but rather the people who saw the photo. Then they would know the truth.
Deanna was so busy one morning that she was on autopilot. She got dressed, brushed her teeth, took the fateful selfie, and forgot about everything by the afternoon.
She wanted to take some photos with her parents. She had thought a lot about them ever since McKenna had left for college.
Two hours after making the arrangements, Deanna’s parents began to worry. It wasn’t like the proud mom to ever be tardy for anything. No response meant there was trouble.
They knew that they had to do something. She was their daughter, after all. They decided to take action rather than sit around and worry.
After waiting for another 30 minutes, they couldn’t take it anymore. They decided to get the keys to their car and drive to her house. She wasn’t picking up the phone, so they had no other choice.
They punched in her address so that they could beat the traffic and get the fastest route. But would that be enough?
Deanna’s parents were on their way to her house when they called her brother to come with them. He agreed to meet them at the house to make sure things were okay. After 10 minutes, the three of them were in front of her house.
They tried ringing her again and were met with the same answering machine. They were all worried about her.
While her family was outside, Deanna was passed out on her bed. She wasn’t stirring as they knocked on her door. Her parents used their spare key to get in and found her in that state.
They dialed an ambulance while Deanna’s brother grabbed her phone. It was lying unlocked next to her unconscious body.
He saw that she had taken a single photo dated to that morning. But when he examined it, his blood ran cold. He immediately sent it to himself as evidence and locked her phone.
When the ambulance arrived, they insisted on taking her to the nearest hospital. The family followed in their cars. What was wrong with Deanna?
The family followed behind the red ambulance as it sped through intersections at blazing speeds. They all shared the same concern as one but didn’t want to say it out loud.
The selfie had left an impression on them. They didn’t entirely understand it but knew that things were serious.
Hours after being taken to the hospital, Deanna groggily cracked one eye open. The mom was now awake but couldn’t quite understand why she was in the ICU.
She noticed that she could only see out of one eye. She started to panic but calmed down when she felt an eye patch covering the one devoid of vision.
Deanna turned to see a nurse watching over her. She asked for an explanation, and she smiled and asked her if she could remember anything. In truth, Deanna couldn’t remember a thing.
Then the nurse told her she was very lucky that she had taken the fateful selfie. Now Deanna was even more confused. What selfie? What was going on?
The nurse explained that she wouldn’t give her the full story herself. She would prefer that her family did. She walked out, and in came her mother and brother with worried looks in their eyes.
Deanna was on the verge of tears seeing her family look so concerned over her. What had happened that could have been this bad?
Her mother explained that when she was late to their meeting and never called, they grew worried. They decided to check up on her and found her unconscious.
That’s when her brother pulled out his phone and scrolled through his photos. He finally showed her the one that would make all the difference.
The photo in question was of Deanna posing for a selfie. But it was no ordinary photo. Her one eye was closed, and the one side of her face was blank. She had suffered from a stroke.
Tears welled up in Deanna’s eyes. But the photo ended up saving her life. Her brother would elaborate on how the selfie made such a difference.
Oftentimes, doctors have to estimate when a patient suffered a stroke and act accordingly. But the more info they have to go on, the more confidently they can take action.
Knowing exactly when she had the stroke meant that they could prescribe exactly what she needed. This definitely made the difference, and her recovery would be quicker for it.
The doctors specifically gave her a tablet that would clot her blood. The issue is that this tablet can be more harmful than helpful if it’s given too late. Thankfully, they could confidently give it to her.
Deanna was happy that she was okay, and her family was more relieved than anything else. Strokes can be life-threatening if not dealt with properly.
A few days later, Deanna was discharged from the hospital, and the doctors told her that she would make a full recovery. She was very lucky that the event hadn’t affected her permanently. Her daughter even drove up to see how she was. At the end of the day, everyone was happy that everything worked out okay.
In order to protect the privacy of those depicted, some names, locations, and identifying characteristics have been changed and are products of the author’s imagination. Any resemblances to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, are entirely coincidental.
