Sad Oklahoma 'Papaw' Becomes Viral Internet Sensation

A tweet from a Northeastern State University softball player has gone viral across the Internet.

Kelsey Harmon tweeted a photo of her grandfather sitting at the kitchen table with a burger and fries.

But her caption is what has captured the attention of millions.

“dinner with papaw tonight… he made 12 burgers for all 6 grandkids and I’m the only one who showed.”

The photo has been retweeted thousands of times and outlets like Buzzfeed have picked it up, resulting in memes that are being made of Papaw and a campaign by Twitter users to get him on the Ellen Show.

Harmon tweeted a statement saying the attention has been overwhelming and that her intent wasn’t to “get famous.” She was just tweeting a photo about every day life and never imagined it would get any attention.

People have been posting supporting comments, but there also have been many that are negative, Harmon said. In a tweet yesterday, she assured folks that her grandpa was OK, and urged them to stop sending death threats to her cousins.

She also had to explain her grandpa loves all his grandchildren and she told Buzzfeed News that now that the six grandkids are older, it is hard for them to all get together like they used to.

“He’s always trying to make sure we all stay close to him and close to each other,” she said.

One of her cousins since tweeted that papaw had forgiven him, and he went by for a burger and homemade ice cream.

Still, Harmon had to clear things up further after being on the receiving end of nasty comments.

“I’ve done nothing worthy of fame,” she tweeted. “I truly only posted the picture of papaw to show my appreciation. …Family is the most important thing in my world & I’d never take advantage of them to gain followers and fame for a few days.”  

Read the full Buzzfeed story here