Man was worried about his tattoos while meeting girlfriend’s family—each family member's response left him stunned
Meeting a partner's family can be an overwhelming experience for many people. They might hope to be liked and accepted by the people who could become a huge part of their lives. So when a couple was seven months into their relationship, the woman, Sydney Long, had decided to introduce her boyfriend, Sean Reen, to her extended family during a family reunion. However, Reen was a little nervous about being judged by the woman's family because of his tattoo sleeve. Nonetheless, the family had something up their sleeves to surprise the man, per a video shared by Long, who goes by @syd.long3 on TikTok. The brief clip received over 7.7 million views on the platform.
"My boyfriend was meeting my entire family for the first time and wasn't sure what my family would think about his tattoo sleeve," the text overlay of the video read as the couple walked to the family. The moment Reen went ahead and greeted each person in the family, he was surprised to see that all of them were wearing fake tattoo sleeves. The man enthusiastically pointed at people's tattoo sleeves and posed for a photo with them. "My entire family bought fake tattoo sleeves to ensure that he felt welcomed and loved," Long expressed. In the caption, she pointed out that Reen had gotten her family's approval. "My family loves him."
Long's family met at Mackinac Island in Michigan in July when she introduced Reen, per PEOPLE. The man is an active duty officer and was about to get deployed at that time. "Around that time, Sean found out he’d be deploying soon. He is an active-duty officer in the United States Marine Corps. Since he’d be gone for six months, I really wanted him to meet everyone before he left," the 26-year-old told the outlet. The man was both excited and nervous as some people in Long's family had a few tattoos, but no one had an entire sleeve. He was worried about what they would think of him. To ease his nerves, the woman talked to her family ahead of the visit.
"I brought it up in advance to help ease his mind and with hopes that it wouldn’t become a big topic of conversation when he arrived," Long recounted. "Sean means a lot to me and my family knew that. Introducing someone to my extended family is a big deal and I genuinely wanted them to love him as much as I do. I didn’t want anyone to pre-judge him based on appearances, so I mentioned the tattoo to my grandparents ahead of time." Nonetheless, Long hadn't expected her grandma to come up with such a funny and heartwarming idea to welcome her boyfriend into the family. All of Long's family and extended family took part in the gesture.
People appreciated the family's wonderful gesture to make Reen feel welcome in the comments section of the video. @hdmoulton7508 wrote, "I have never hoped more for two strangers on the internet to get married and live a blessed life." @melissaxgannon commented, "When I met my husband's family, I was so nervous for the same reasons. I showed up and they were all covered in tattoos. He had never told me he was raised by bikers." @obrielle29 remarked, " Okay, well, this is the most wholesome thing I’ve ever seen. I bet he felt so welcomed. You have a family of gems." Long often shares snippets of her life as a hotel marketer on the platform. In one video, she shared about her move to Montana.
You can follow Sydney Long (@syd.long3) on TikTok for more lifestyle content.
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