Woman bursts into tears over neighbor's letter after painting her house bright purple
Maureen Clemons, 35, and her husband, 36-year-old Mike Peck, began painting their three-bedroom, one-bathroom bungalow in the vibrant city of Royal Oak during the COVID pandemic.
'We wanted something to distract ourselves and make us happy,' Clemons told Newsweek.
Over the course of a week, the couple committed to their final design choice - unique lavender purple paint, replacing the home's former blue-green exterior.
'We picked purple because it felt bright and joyful,' Clemons added. 'We were going for a cute cottage vibe.'
With such a one-of-a-kind home, attention was inevitable - often arriving as spontaneous compliments from those passing by.
'A couple biking by started chanting, "Go purple! Go lavender!"' Clemons said.
'Someone even stopped to tell us how happy the color made her - it brightened her day,' she added.
But the most unforgettable reaction came when the couple opened their door to find an unexpected note and a nostalgic gift from a neighbor known only as 'Chris' - a worn copy of the nostalgic children's book Mr. Pine's Purple House.
The fictional book by Leonard Kessler is about a man on Vine Street determined to make his house stand out from the 49 others lining the block.
The note read: 'Hi, a while ago I was walking by your house when you were painting.
'It reminded me of one of my favorite books from childhood, that celebrates individuality.
'I could not remember the exact name, but after some searching I was able to find it. I hope you enjoy the story,' it continued. 'Hopefully you won't mind that it's well read.
'Happy Holidays. Your neighbor, Chris.'
'We were overwhelmed,' Clemons told Newsweek but added: 'We never figured out who Chris was.'
Clemons recently shared the heartfelt story in TikTok video writing: 'We painted our house purple and our neighbor left us this book and note. Sometimes humans are so cute!!'
She shared photos of the house, book, note and tattoo and wrote in the on-screen text: 'I cried.'
It has now racked up over two million views.
And Clemons has gone one step further to cement her love for her purple home - she has gotten a tattoo of it.
The tattoo - inked by an artist who, unbeknownst to her, had previously snapped a photo of the home - features nothing but the cozy purple cottage itself.
It lovingly captures the three bushes lining the home, a heart on the door and siding, the deck framed by small black railings - just like the real thing - and a puff of smoke shaped like a heart rising from the chimney, all etched forever onto her arm.
To complete the artwork, the words 'I want to go home' are inscribed just beneath the house.
'I just got a tattoo to remember the house and moment,' she added, accompanied with a smiley-face emoji.
The viral response on TikTok took Clemons by surprise - she described the engagement as 'crazy'.
With over 3,000 comments, viewers shared how deeply the story made them feel connected to those around them.
'He gave you HIS copy of his favorite childhood book?? sobbing,' one user wrote under the post.
A second added: 'Human connection is the meaning of life.'
'The joy you brought to your neighbor by simply following your own bliss,' another wrote. 'You never know your impact. I'm so glad they shared this.'
Chiming in, a user said: 'Your actions for your own joy encouraged someone to look into a picture book from their youth.'
'Sometimes I forget that this is the whole point. I'm literally crying. This is so sweet,' wrote another.
The purple home - now valued at a staggering $337,764, according to Zillow - was last sold for $275,000, marking a $62,764 increase in value.
At 1,058 square feet, the couple's cozy 1939-built cottage features a sought-after floor plan with a spacious living room, dining room, bonus room, backyard patio, and a two-car garage.
The home includes a full bathroom downstairs, while upstairs offers a half-bath and arguably its best feature - a private top-floor balcony overlooking the more muted neighboring homes.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
15 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
JFK's love triangle... with Hitler! His father called her a 'Nazi b***h'. But Kennedy still bedded her, even after she admitted the 'gift' the Führer gave her in Berlin
John F Kennedy's numerous rumored affairs are arguably as much a part of the Camelot legend as his presidency, his alleged mafia connections and his subsequent assassination. But JFK's twisted romantic life might have turned about so very different had his father, the fiercely controlling patriarch Joe Kennedy, allowed his charming, quietly intelligent middle son to marry his first love, Inga Arvad, a woman Joe referred to as a 'Nazi b***h.'
The Guardian
an hour ago
- The Guardian
‘It's queer, Black joy': the TikTok creator quizzing pop stars and politicians on LGBTQ+ culture
Anania Williams is genreless. Some may know them from their comedic TikTok videos, which regularly amass hundreds of thousands of views. Others may recognize them as host of Gaydar, a viral entertainment-education show about queer culture, history and current events; an interview Williams did with the New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani did go viral, after all. There's also Williams's drag performances, including those where they opened for icons such as Chappell Roan and Bob the Drag Queen. Or their bevy of musical theater roles – Lola in Kinky Boots, Dominique in Lucky Stiffs, to name a few. For years, Williams has been launching their own creative universe. As a 25-year-old genderqueer, Black artist, Williams, who uses they/she pronouns, has used their ever-growing social media presence (more than 2.8 million followers across their social media platforms) to fashion the career of their dreams outside anyone's binaries. For their next project, Williams is set to perform in Saturday Church, a new musical at New York Theatre Workshop which opens 27 August. The play dives into the world of a sanctuary for LGBTQ+ youth. 'It's a feelgood musical,' said Williams of the production. 'It's just queer, Black joy, and there's a beautiful message about it.' Williams will play a trans woman, another bonus in their ever-growing theatrical career. 'The further I get in my transition, it's been nice to feel affirmed,' they said. 'It's just been awesome to be in those spaces and to make a way for myself.' With talent and charisma, Williams's rise is practically ordained; as they look forward to balancing their various projects, now comes the task of navigating their expansive future and chronic frustrations of being online. For Williams, growing up in Davenport, Iowa – an industrial, midwestern town of about 100,000 people, was an exercise in strength. At school, Williams was bullied for 'having a girl name', they said. Their home life was equally tumultuous, Williams recalled, rife with abuse and neglect. But life in the midwest sowed the seeds for their future artistic passions. As a child, they sang in the church choir, later joining show choir, following in the footsteps of an older sister. For college, Williams attended Emerson College's in the musical theatre program in Boston. University was one of the first times that Williams got to reflect on who they were, what they wanted. But musical theater came with its own binaries and limitations, especially as Williams is both genderqueer, meaning outside the typical binaries of gender, and Black. 'It felt like: 'Lord forbid you be somewhere else on the gender binary,' and then, 'Lord forbid you're also Black at the same time',' Williams said. Even when Williams attempted to create their own lane, they said they faced resistance from their professors. 'There was a teacher that was like: 'You keep bringing in girl songs. Why is that?' And I tried to explain it to them, and it didn't go well,' Williams said. When the Covid-19 pandemic hit, Williams returned to their home town to wait out the return to normalcy like most people. The isolation allowed for reflection and served as a moment that allowed them to fully realize their gender identity. 'I had to admit a couple things to myself, like, 'Yeah, I'm queer. Yeah, I'm probably genderqueer.' And from there, it kind of spiraled,' they said of that time period, jokingly adding: 'I call it the pronoun pipeline.' Around the same time, Williams started to create content on TikTok, quickly becoming known for short, comedic rants captured during their late-night walks. Most of their content was spur-of-the-moment musings on anything from Christianity and relationships to a new iPhone. In 2022, they started to speak more openly about being genderqueer, posting videos of their drag and makeup routine. Reflecting back on that time period brings a mix of feelings, Williams said. On one hand, it has been extremely gratifying to grow alongside longtime viewers. 'The audience that's been with me the longest has signed on to watch me evolve,' they said. '[They] watched me do makeup for the first time or try to glue down a wig. Those people are why I feel like I can keep going.' On the other hand, Williams sometimes wishes 'the first version people knew me of was who I am today'. The nature of their content has continued to grow. In 2024, Williams became the host of Gaydar, created by Amelia Montooth at the company Mutuals Media. The show quizzes an array of guests on queer culture in an attempt to find out if they are 'straight, gay or homophobic'. Questions include anything from what a 'lipstick lesbian' is to assessing a guest's knowledge of a gay icon. Willliams herself is also learning alongside contestants, often in real time. 'I didn't know who Sue Bird was and the lesbians whacked me up and down the streets, oh my God,' they quipped. The show's a comedic premise with the goal of inviting viewers to become educated, said Williams. 'We are inundating queer history and queer culture into digestible questions and clips that lets people relax into the learning,' said Williams of the show. 'They can take something in a funny way that's more engaging than saying: 'Here are the facts. Here's a screenshot of this article I read, and you should care about it.' Early versions of the show featured mostly strangers Williams found on the street. The segment has since hosted a number of celebrities and public figures: singers Lucy Dacus, Reneé Rapp and Vivian Jenna Wilson, the daughter of billionaire Elon Musk. The New York City mayoral candidate Mamdani, an avid progressive, attracted social media buzz as one of the first politicians to grace the show. Mamdani shocked Williams when he was successfully able to name a lesbian bar in the city: the Manhattan-staple Cubbyhole. 'He was just such a team player about it,' said Williams of the interview experience. 'We let our audience, which is younger, know who he is and he got to speak for himself.' Williams added: 'It's cool to be a professional zeitgeist in that way, to know that throughout it all, we're making a difference.' Williams's ascent hasn't come without difficulties. They have faced cruel harassment as they have been more public about their transition. 'What they really like to do, especially with dolls, is pick apart fashion and makeup and hair,' said Williams, referring to online trolls. Williams added: 'I want to believe that people are becoming more comfortable with transness, but I think they're coming around to a very specific, stereotypical, western, white, skinny type of trans person. When someone doesn't fit that standard, they get berated.' But Williams has found ways to consistently ground in the real world, alongside the growing pains. There's their found family, a best friend from sixth grade. High school friends and their boyfriend as well as online friends they met through TikTok. And, of course, baking and video games are hobbies, living outside the pressure to monetize or make content of their life. A cake for a friend's birthday was already in the works for later that evening. 'It's either red velvet or strawberry,' Williams said, with a large laugh. 'I remember the color, not the flavor.'
Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
Travis Kelce leaves fans baffled with his latest endorsement: 'Most random crossover'
Travis Kelce has left fans stunned with his latest partnership after the NFL star teamed up with one of the internet's most popular online games. The Kansas City Chiefs superstar, 35, is no stranger to the spotlight away from the football field, l anding cameo roles in 'Happy Gilmore 2' and Ryan Murphy 's horror series, 'Grotesquerie.' The tight end is also more than happy to lend his famous name to brand deals, including Pfizer, Subway and Lowe's. However, fans believe his latest endorsement is a bit out of left field, even for him. The three-time Super Bowl winner teamed up with gaming platform Roblox to host a special event of Grow Your Garden - one of the world's fastest growing popular games, often played by children. Kelce hosted the half-an-hour event at 9:30am ET on Saturday, even giving a virtual 'interview' via his avatar with developer 'Jandel'. And fans of both the game and football were left baffled by Kelce's participation in the game, branding it the 'most random crossover' on social media. 'Why the f*** is travis kelce collabing with a goddamn roblox game (grow a garden) its so random bruh im dying,' one social media user posted. 'Travis Kelce playing Grow a Garden wasn't on my Bingo card,' another quipped. 'What is this crossover,' a third asked, while a fourth added: 'Most insane collab ever.' 'My son is going nuts because Grow a Garden (massive game on Roblox, over 1M players daily) is having a special event with Travis Kelce doing an AMA,' one stunned user wrote. 'playing roblox with my nephew and what the hell is travis kelce doing here,' another added. The video game involves players slowly developing a little patch of virtual land, simulating growing plants and creating a garden. The game is rather slow-paced and sedate compared to traditional video games but since its launch in March of this year it has attracted millions of users - many of them children. Fans were left baffled by the collaboration, branding it the 'most random crossover' The game has smashed a record for concurrent players, which was previously held by Fortnite. Earlier this month, it reached a peak of 21.9 million concurrent players, while Fortnite's previous record stood at 15.3 million, according to reports. Kelce reported for training camp with the Chiefs earlier this week as he prepares for his 13th season in the NFL after confirming to delay retirement for at least another year during the offseason. Yet, his return - along with the Chiefs' quest for Super Bowl revenge - hasn't stopped him from pursuing his offield endeavors either. Last year, he hosted a gameshow - 'Are You Smarter Than a Celebrity?' - and appeared in horror series 'Grotesquerie'. While this summer presented the stunning opportunity to appear in Happy Gilmore 2. The tight end played the role of a server in Adam Sandler's long-awaited sequel to his 1996 cult comedy classic.
