Girl, 10, Left Alone on Birthday After Parents’ Flight Delayed — and Grandma Was Ready to Go Home

Quinn Valentine never expected that sharing a family story would garner so much attention.

The TikToker, @qster14, shared a video looking back on her10th birthday in what she described as her “best storytime.”

Admitting her mom hates the story, Quinn goes on to detail the time that her grandmother, in charge of watching her while her parents were away, left to return home to Connecticut — leaving the little girl alone in Ohio on her 10th birthday.
Having her grandmother watch Quinn during this trip was “pretty much a one-off thing” for the family,” the content creator tells PEOPLE.

“If both of my parents had to go out of town, I would usually go spend the night at a friend’s house. It was not a normal thing for my grandparents to come and watch me while my parents were out of town.”

“She was a funny lady. She was very laid back,” Quinn says of her grandma, who died in 2018.

The week-long arrangement was going smoothly at first. “I was in 4th or 5th grade. I went to school all week and dance after school. Other than that, my grandma and I just hung out,” she recalls. “We liked watching Keeping Up with the Kardashians together.”

Quinn’s family was due home days before her birthday, but a volcanic eruption in Europe impacted air travel internationally and left her family — her mom and brother in Prague and dad on a business trip — scrambling. Looking back, Quinn admits she was “pretty in the dark to what was going on.”

“That Friday night, my grandmother had told my dad she was getting on her flight the next day regardless and going home. I remember talking to my dad that night, and he just said, ‘We’re figuring it out; don’t worry about it. Somebody will be there tomorrow for your birthday.’ ”
“And in my head, I was like, ‘Oh, well, of course, my grandma’s here.’ But he mentioned my mom and my brother were trying to get home,” she continues. “They didn’t put any stress on me. I didn’t think it was a big deal at all. Meanwhile, they’re all going crazy in the background.”

The next morning, true to her word, Quinn’s grandma got on her flight back home. When Quinn woke up, she noticed, “The TV wasn’t on and it didn’t smell like coffee.”

“I walked downstairs, knowing she was up at the crack of dawn, and I walked into the kitchen. All the lights were off. I’m like, ‘This is weird.’ Then I see the piece of paper on the counter.”

“She had the most beautiful handwriting, so I was trying to read it but I could barely read it. The note was like, ‘Quinn, I had a great week with you. I headed home this morning. Love you, Grandma,’ ” Quinn says, noting the “cut and dry” manner was very much her grandma’s way.

Quinn looked around some more and realized she was...