A man's grandparents are getting the "award for most adorable email ever" after they learned via newspaper their grandson was gay.
British 28-year-old Simon Crowther is a civil engineer specializing in water and flooding. He founded his own company called Flood Protection Solutions which was previously featured in a 2018 issue of Forbes Under 30.
Just recently, the UK based gay magazine Attitude featured Crowther's business and named him as a rising LGBTQ+ engineer in the field.
When Attitude named him as a trailblazer, the Nottingham Evening Post Magazine picked up the story where Crowther revealed he came out to his family as gay at age 21. Well, apparently his grandparents had not been told.
At some point, Crowther's grandparents heard about the article and decided to send him an email.
Crowther posted a screenshot to Twitter and it went viral.
My 89 year old grandparents win the award for most adorable email ever \nFeeling blessedpic.twitter.com/aM6yNPIuTk— Simon Crowther (@Simon Crowther) 1642003573
@SCrowther/Twitter
In the email, his 89-year-old grandparents wrote:
“Hello Simon, We learned from John R when he came round with Grandpa’s birthday present, that there was an excellent article recently, about you and how you built your business, in a Nottingham Evening Post Magazine."
“Apparently, you reported that you had ‘Come Out’ as being gay to your family when you were 21."
"Obviously, it was decided to keep it from us for if it upset us. Don’t worry, we are not upset."
“In fact, I had already worked it out for myself (Gran), but Grandpa didn’t know.
"Don’t worry. You are still the same Simon to us this news alters nothing."
"We want you to know that you are still our grandson and we love you just the same."
“We have not mentioned this to Mum or Jenny, so this message will be as big a surprise to them when you tell them, as it will be to you."
"I am so glad we now know. Enjoy your life."
“You are making a pretty good job of it up to now."
"And…..we would still love to see the article mentioned above."
"Can you e-mail it to us?"
"With all our love and support, Gran and Grandpa.”
The reaction was overwhelmingly positive about the email to which Crowther replied with a few photos of "Jill and Bill."
Aww. I can just see them by the computer deliberating over what to say. They\u2019re adorablepic.twitter.com/AdKbRjCgMa— Simon Crowther (@Simon Crowther) 1642014348
And this is why we need to push back on the "excuse old people for bigotry" line. They don't need to be. The world is better when they're actually good people, no matter how old.— Janet McKenna Lowry (@Janet McKenna Lowry) 1642088382
2/2 to knoabout gay people in 1940s onwards etc. he just shrugged and said \u201che was a nice man\u201d no judgment, no assumptions,\u201d my dad was amazing and the kindest non judgemental man I ever met. This story is about you but I wanted to share a little of my dad x hope you don\u2019t mind.— Sandra Smith (@Sandra Smith) 1642068261
I remember my Irish gran calling me when the vote for same sex marriage was taken in Ireland. "Ye have won the vote" she said. I asked if she had voted, and got "of course I fekkin voted for it, why wouldn't I". \nShe is now 90 years old and going strong.— Mark M (@Mark M) 1642075225
How completely wonderful. I am sure you are feeling blessed. Brought a tear to my eye. Grandparents are very wise people , so I have found.— Helen Martin (@Helen Martin) 1642004029
They sound so lovely. My Dad was 93 when a close very young relative came out as trans. He was totally accepting, and far better than most of us at remembering the new pro-nouns and name. I was so impressed and tried much harder myself to get it right because of his example.— Janey Salisbury (@Janey Salisbury) 1642068599
How lovely! Y'know us grandparents figure things out before you think we do! And there's no barrier whatsoever to our love, support and pride for ... all our grandchildren .— Sue Thomas \ud83d\udc99 (@Sue Thomas \ud83d\udc99) 1642068751
divine!! when my daughter \u2018came out\u2019 my parents reaction was\u2026.. well if her girlfriend doesn\u2019t treat her correctly, she\u2019ll get a strong word from us!!!! (they\u2019re in their 80\u2019s) I think our older generation knows more than we credit them for xxx— Val Chalmers (@Val Chalmers) 1642065517
After another day of much sadness and gloom in the world, this tweet has made my day. Perfectly lovely— Melanie Hewitt FRSA (@Melanie Hewitt FRSA) 1642032188
#jillandbillpic.twitter.com/DCKSxTy7PW— Simon Crowther (@Simon Crowther) 1642028785
Most people came to the conclusion we shouldn't underestimate our elders.
They might understand more than we think.