TAUNTON, Mass. (WPRI) — Matt Goodman hit a major milestone Sunday: He turned 21. But the night before, his family had a small, emotional celebration.
“It was awesome” he said. “It was the best present I could ask for.”
The present came from his late father, John, who died of cancer when Matt was only 15 years old.
“I know the hardest thing for my dad was knowing the things he was going to miss out on, and anyone who knew my dad, he was this goofy, larger-than-life, life-of-the-party guy, and my little brother was his entire world,” said Matt’s sister, Casey Goodman.
Just before John passed, he gave Casey a $10 bill, and she, in turn, gave it to her mom.
“We put it in an envelope that night, taped it up, and put it in her safe,” Casey said. “We kept it in her closet for the last six years.”
On Sunday, John’s wish came true, and that $10 bill was used to buy Matt his first beer: a Bud light, his dad’s favorite.
“It was pretty awesome because it felt like he was actually with me,” Matt recalled. “Through that whole thing, it just felt like he was actually drinking a beer with me.”
Matt posted the special moment on Twitter, writing, “cheers pops having this one for you!”
That tweet has since gone viral.
“It’s kind of crazy. I never expected it to blow up like this,” Matt said. “It started, and it just kept getting bigger and bigger.”
It got so big that even Budweiser replied, saying, “We’re raising one to your pops, Matt. He got you your first beer, and the next one’s on us.”
Budweiser didn’t stop there. They also sent Matt eight 30-packs of beer.
“Ten dollars turned into 240 beers from Budweiser and now it could turn into however much money in donations,” Matt said. “It’s just crazy how one little thing can lead to a way bigger thing.”
Matt says people from around the world have reached out to him, asking for his Venmo information so they could also send him some beer money.
However, Matt says that he wants those donations to go to Dana-Farber Cancer Institute instead because they took such good care of his dad when he was sick.
