When 41-year-old David Pendragon brought a colorful cat lunchbox to his office, he knew he’d get questions about his choice. Was it a joke? Did he take the wrong lunchbox by accident? When pressed for the truth, Pendragon revealed that his choice was no accident: It was a show of support for a special little boy in his life.
Pendragon, who lives in Charlotte, North Carolina, saw a post on Facebook from his cousin Emily about her 10-year-old son Ryker being teased at school because of his lunchbox. The other kids called it too “girly,” according to Pendragon.
“He loves cats and he loves space so [his mom] got him this cool lunch box,” he told People magazine. “He took it to school and got teased because it’s pink and purple and blue and its got pictures of kitty-cat heads on it.”
Pendragon said his “heart went out” to his nephew. He wanted to figure out a way to support him. That’s when he came up with the idea to follow in Ryker’s footsteps.
Yes, this amazing uncle went out and bought the same lunchbox. Then he packed it, brought it to work and took a photo to share on social media.
“There’s no one way to be a man,” he posted on Facebook along with the photo of him proudly posing with the lunchbox. “Men can be colorful. Men can be expressive. Men can be emotional and silly and gleeful.”
The post got a lot of attention—143,000 likes and more than 58,000 shares! But what about Ryker? What was his response? It turns out there’s a happy ending to his story, too.
“He was very happy,” Pendragon shared with People. “His teacher heard about it and she talked to the students in the class. Once it was explained to them, they were very apologetic. He’s brought it to school every day since! As far as I know, he’s not getting any more trouble.”
Now that’s what we call a cool uncle!