Parents surprise son with congratulations billboard after graduation was canceled

It's 2020 and everything seems bad but, hey, there are still some good things.

Like Brandon Truett, who just earned a Ph.D. in English and has a really proud, really kind, kind-of-extra dad who decided to brag about his kid's huge achievement via a massive billboard.

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Seriously, how lovely is that? The big victory for Truett was a small victory for the internet because we were rewarded with something nice online — and damn if that isn't a rarity. The post quickly racked up nearly 70,000 likes by Tuesday afternoon after being posted that morning.

I briefly got in touch with Truett — who just defended his dissertation via Zoom for a Ph.D. in English at the University of Chicago — and talked about his father's grand gesture. He said he had no idea what was going on when his dad asked for a recent photo.

"Then last Sunday he texted me out of the blue with that image that you saw on Twitter, saying 'Surprise, son," Truett said over the phone. "I was a little floored."

The 30-year-old said both his father, Jimmy, and his mother, Debbie, were behind the grand gesture on a billboard near Truett's hometown of Conway, South Carolina.

"At first, I was, I've gotta say, a little embarrassed — I don't know if I've ever seen my face on that massive scale," Truett said. "But yeah, I thought it was incredible. A very innovative, creative way to make my achievement public since there won't be a commencement — or at least not an in-person commencement — and there haven't been in-person celebrations."

Truett said he was surprised and thrilled by the reaction to his heartwarming post.

"I'm getting messages from all kinds of people," he said. "It's really nice to see people getting some joy out of the moment."

And as for his dad?

"I think he's even more over the moon," Truett said. "To see that the billboard is not just around town. Now it's global."