Move over, Sad Grandpa. A Connecticut woman is suddenly the entire world's grandma after a heartbreaking photo of her looking super sad has gone viral.
Magdalene Jourdan, 89, has been painting since she was a toddler but it wasn't until last week that she launched her first art exhibit. Magdalene got all dolled up for her art show but was left utterly heartbroken after just two people from town showed up to see her artwork.
Her granddaughter, Lily, 17, was away playing a softball game but came home to find her grandma visibly upset and so tweeted this photo.
Magdalene's son, Jim Jourdan, 50, who was with her at the Thursday evening reception at the Thompson Public Library, says the only people who showed up were a local couple, who are friends of the library and helped Magdalene secure the space for her exhibition.
While the library did promote the exhibit, it apparently just wasn't enough to muster much of a turnout. Magdalene moved to the small town from Montreal, Canada, a year ago, to live with her family due to some health concerns.
After Lily's tweet, which has since been retweeted around 22,000 times, a flood of support for Magdalene has come out from all over the Internet. On the exhibit's Facebook page, entitled "Reflections of a Lifetime," Magdalene has received messages of encouragement from around the world, including Australia, Belgium and Ireland.
"Mom's elated at this point," Jim told The Huffington Post. "People want to send her art supplies, make a website for her for free ... it's really interesting and so inadvertent. This is going to reignite her passion."
Jim says there have been countless offers from all parts of the globe to purchase her artwork, but Magdalene probably won't be selling any of her older pieces.
"These pictures are so incredibly sentimental and everything in our childhood revolved around her art," Jim said. "It's a part of us as a family. It absolutely could not be parted with."
She might, however, consider selling some of her newer pieces. Magdalene's exhibit runs through May 25th and showcases 43 canvas paintings and over a dozen other works, Jim said.
All those whose hearts are breaking over sad grandma, you can rest a little easier. Magdalene did a second reception for her exhibit on Saturday with a few more family members and a few others showed up, making for a better turnout than Thursday.
"She was happier Saturday. Some old family friends showed up. She got to talk to people, that's what she really loves to do," Jim said.
Numerous people from all over the U.S. have been commenting on the exhibit's page that perhaps they'll be taking a road trip to Connecticut to see the beautiful pieces.
We hope you get many, many more visitors through the end of the month, Magdalene!
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