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“I’m so grateful that Jackson will have this video and hopefully many years of memories with [his great-grandparents],” Stephanie Meredith tells PEOPLE
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After three months of FaceTime calls, Stephanie Meredith surprised her grandparents by introducing them to their first great-grandchild in person
The emotional reunion brought four generations together under one roof for the first time
A video of her grandparents’ reactions has since gone viral on TikTok, amassing over 1 million views
For three months, Stephanie Meredith made sure her grandparents never missed a major moment in their first great-grandchild’s life, even if it was only through a phone screen.
Health issues prevented Anthony “Tony” Oliveri, 84, and Carol Oliveri, 83, from traveling from their home in Carle Place, N.Y., to Virginia after baby Jackson was born in March 2026, so weekly FaceTime calls became their window into his earliest milestones.
So when Stephanie, 36, finally had the chance to travel home in June, she decided their first meeting deserved to be unforgettable. The emotional surprise brought four generations together under one roof, and after a video of the moment racked up more than a million views on TikTok, viewers admitted they were “sobbing” right alongside the family.
Since Tony and Carol were unable to travel in the months after Jackson’s birth, Meredith made it a priority to keep them involved from afar. Rather than letting the distance define those first weeks, she built a routine that allowed them to watch their great-grandson grow almost in real time.
“I knew it would be important for them to see him throughout that period since babies grow and change so fast,” Meredith, 36, tells PEOPLE exclusively.
Ultimately, those weekly calls allowed the couple to witness everything from Jackson’s first smiles to his rolling over, making the long-awaited in-person visit feel even more meaningful.
The opportunity finally arrived when Meredith planned to join her father on a camping trip in Montauk, which meant passing through her childhood hometown just minutes from her grandparents’ house. With a Fourth of July family reunion already on the calendar, the timing created the “perfect opportunity” for an unexpected visit.
Meredith and her mother carefully planned every detail, even parking down the street to avoid being spotted through the front window. Nothing, however, prepared them for what would happen after they walked into the house.
“I was so shocked by their reaction and started to tear up, realizing how overwhelmed they were,” Meredith recalls. “And definitely a little worried my grandpa might have a heart attack! It was wonderful to capture their genuine reaction. I had never seen my grandpa that emotional and shocked before.”
As soon as Tony and Carol realized Jackson was right in front of them, months of anticipation came pouring out in an instant. “[I was] stunned and almost frightened!” Tony tells PEOPLE. “I just couldn’t believe that the baby was there!”
And for Carol, the surprise instantly transported her back decades. “It reminded me of the day that you brought my first child home 65 years ago. It’s hard to explain — it was so incredible,” she says. “Not knowing [Jackson] was coming was such a shock.”
Watching the reunion unfold became just as emotional for Meredith as it was for her grandparents.
Over the past year, Tony had faced major health challenges, making the meeting feel far from guaranteed, and she knew just how much he had been working toward this moment.
“He has been so determined to get better to get to meet and spend as much time with Jackson as he can,” Meredith shares. “It was unbelievable to watch them ogle over him the rest of the afternoon.”
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In the end, seeing her grandparents finally step into their roles as great-grandparents made the wait worthwhile.
“It has brought me and our family so much joy to watch my great-grandparents light up every time they see Jackson, whether over the phone or in person,” she says. Even with all the excitement surrounding the surprise, “once they finally met him in person, they were so gentle, despite their excitement!”
Even after months of admiring Jackson through a screen, nothing compared to finally holding their great-grandchild in their arms.
“It was the greatest feeling when I held the baby — I hadn’t held one in a long time!” Tony says. “There really aren’t any words to describe how we felt. It meant everything. It was so overwhelming. I wouldn’t have given it up for anything.”
Carol was equally moved, not only by finally meeting Jackson, but by witnessing an emotional side of her husband she had rarely seen throughout their decades together.
“I had never seen him act like that in 65 years of marriage,” she tells PEOPLE. “He’s normally pretty stoic, and to see him be so emotional was like ‘wow.’ I watch that video every day and laugh and cry.”
For Meredith, the viral video is more than a keepsake of one unforgettable surprise — it’s a memory she hopes her son will treasure for years to come.
“I was lucky enough to grow up with four great-grandparents, and I’m so grateful that Jackson will have this video and hopefully many years of memories with them, similar to the ones I had, where he knows he is so loved and cherished.”
Read the original article on People
