Dad Dies of Cancer, But Leaves His Son $10 to Buy His First Beer on 21st Birthday

A young man in Massachusetts enjoyed an extra-special 21st birthday after he found out that his first legal beer was purchased by his late father, who died several years ago.

Matt Goodman was only 15 years only when his father passed away after succumbing to cancer, reports Boston 25. Prior to passing, however, Matt’s dad passed along a $10 bill, and instructed her to save the money for Matt’s 21st birthday so that he could buy his son his first mug of beer.

Matt shared the touching milestone on Twitter last Sunday, after he took the $10 bill to a bar in Attleboro so that he could buy a Bud Light.

“Almost 6 years ago before my dad passed he gave my sister this 10$ bill to give to me on my 21st birthday so he could buy me my first beer, cheers pops havin this one for you!” he wrote. 

For Matt’s father, the knowledge that his life would end was made more painful by the fact that he knew he would miss such important moments in his children’s life, said Matt’s sister, Casey Goodman.

“I know the hardest thing for my dad was the things he was going to miss out on,” Casey said. “Anyone who knew my dad knew he was this goofy, larger-than-life of-the-party guy, and my little brother was his entire world.”

So when the father passed the $10 bill to Matt’s mother and sister, they knew that they should hold onto it until the time was right.

They finally handed him the envelope containing the cash the night before his birthday – a move that initially confused the birthday boy until Casey tipped him off to its purpose.

“She kind of explained the backstory and everything and then it turned into a pretty emotional moment and started crying,” Matt told CBS News.

The moment stirred such strong feelings because beyond sharing the typical father-son bond, the two were always spending their free time fishing, riding quads, or playing washer toss with each other.

“Me and him were just like best friends,” Matt said. “Anytime we would hang out, it was just like having fun.” 

Since posting the tweet, it has since gone viral and been liked over 540,000 times.

The tweet eventually captured the attention of Budweiser, which decided to make the most of the opportunity for free advertising.

The brewery giant responded directly to Matt’s tweet and wrote, “We’re raising one to your pops, Matt. He got your first beer and the next one’s on us.”

Matt later tweeted that Budweiser had sent Matt several cases of beer, free of charge.

The story also resonated with Twitter users who also had stories about the grief and pain of losing a loved one. Users also asked how they, too, could chip in to buy the 21-year-old a fresh cold one.

However, instead of accepting the money, Matt thanked them for the support and encouraged people to instead donate to the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, who had helped his father.

“Appreciate all of you asking for my venmo, but instead if you wanted to send money feel free to donate any amount to dana farber they did a lot for my dad so that would be much appreciated!” he tweeted.