Strangers Support Dad Facing Kids’ First Christmas Without Their Mom: ‘Never Felt So Overwhelmed with Joy’

This year, three young children from Detroit face their first Christmas without their mom, but they will discover the true meaning of the season thanks to the kindness of strangers.

“This is something that happens in a movie, not in real life,” the children’s father, Donald Wilson, tells PEOPLE.

The last thing Wilson had time to think about these past few months was Christmas. The 33-year-old became a single father to Donald Jr., 5, Poetry, 4, and Honesty, 1, in August after his ex Lakenya Wilbourn, 39, died of a stroke. Although they were no longer together, the two had a friendly co-parenting relationship.

“It was more day-to-day survival,” says Wilson. “I had no money, I went to emergency food pantries… It was a lot.”

Lakenya Wilbourn died on August 12, just days before her son Donald Jr.’s 5th birthday.

Courtesy of Donald Wilson

While Wilson struggled, the holiday spirit of his downstairs duplex neighbor — Colin McConnell, a 48-year-old TikTok producer — went into overdrive.

The two were not friends. They were strangers who happened to live next door to each other since Wilson, who worked nights, moved in last March.

But McConnell noted that the three young children who usually visited on weekends now live in the apartment full time. One day he watched Wilson walk up to his second-floor duplex in overwhelming sadness and had to ask him how he was doing.

Wilson, who says he normally keeps his feelings under wraps, poured his heart out to McConnell.

“I think he just felt so alone,” McConnell says.

Colin McConnell, left, with Donald Jr., Sincerity, Donald and Poetry.

Courtesy of Colin McConnell

Wilson and Wilbourn met at the Motor City Casino where they both worked. Wilson, who lost his father when he was just 3 years old and was raised by a single mother with an addiction problem, managed to become a chef.

After escaping his troubled youth, he wanted to create a good life for his children, which includes three older children he has from a previous relationship. After Wilbourn’s death, he says he felt defeated and was losing faith.

“I said, ‘Donald, nobody’s going to help you. Stop crying. Just do it,’ says Wilson, choking up. “I have no room for happiness. I have no room for sadness, excitement. Just make sure these kids are okay.”

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After Wilbourn’s death, he had to take a leave of absence from work to sort out his affairs and deal with his grief. At the time, he only had a small amount of money from his short-term disability. Wilson struggled and had no support system from his family to help feed and clothe the children.

It was at this point that McConnell suggested addressing his TikTok followers. A small staff helped him on other occasions, including organizing a bike ride to raise money for charity, which resulted in McConnell being featured in the November 2021 issue of PEOPLE Kindness.

Colin McConnell with gifts and wrapping paper sent by TikTok followers.

Courtesy of Colin McConnell

McConnell expected perhaps 100 responses from his post in November, which linked to the family’s Amazon wish list. Instead, there was a global outpouring of gifts including toys, clothing, food, gift cards and cash. When he showed Wilson the award, Wilson says he felt like he had butterflies all over him, a nervous feeling that took over his whole body.

“I have never felt so overwhelmed with joy. I’ve never truly felt joy, and if that’s what I feel, I want everyone to experience it,” says Wilson. “I guarantee you will feel it in your body and your body language. And you will want to give it back to others.”

As much as the gifts and food mean to Wilson and his family, it means the most just to acknowledge that there are people who actually care about what happens to him and his family.

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“I got a card from a woman in Texas that said ‘Hello partner. Merry Christmas. You got this. You’re a great dad.’ Those cards were so stimulating,” says Wilson. “I read some of them with my 13-year-old son and we just laughed and hung them around and put them on the ledge and used them to decorate the Christmas tree.”

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Wilson wants more people to experience what he experienced. And not only during the holidays.

“It gave me confidence, ideas, inspiration and motivation to do these things for others,” says Wilson. “This gave me so much compassion in me. Sometimes just random actions can change a life.”

If you’d like to watch the Wilson Family Christmas event live on TikTok at 4:00 PM ET, head over to Colin’s account to register, or you can watch it on his page after 7:00 PM on Christmas Day, December 25th.

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Source: HIS Education