Few Blockbuster stores remained open after the company filed bankruptcy in 2010, but the store in Sharyland, Texas, kept a No. 1 fan until this month.
Hector Andres Zuniga is a 20-year-old Texan with autism and was a regular customer of the Sharyland Blockbuster. When his parents discovered it was closing permanently, they decided to bring a part of Blockbuster home with them so Zuniga could experience it forever.
Javier Zuniga, Hector Andres’ younger brother, posted about it on his Twitter and received an overwhelming number of positive reactions.
MY AUTISTIC BROTHER WAS SAD THAT BLOCK BUSTER WAS CLOSING DOWN SO MY PARENTS MADE A MINI ONE AT HOME FOR HIM! 😭❤️ pic.twitter.com/B4oo74NBvi
— jav✨ (@jxviizun) April 23, 2017
Since childhood, Zuniga visited the local Blockbuster with his family to rent DVDs of his favorite shows like Barney and Blue’s Clues. Zuniga’s parents purchased some of the store’s shelves, DVDs, and signage during its closure and set up their own mini-store at home so Zuniga could “rent” his favorites every day.
Zuniga loved his surprise and showed it in the sweetest way.
“His way of saying ‘I love you,’ is by going up to you and grabbing your earlobe,” Zuniga’s father told the Huffington Post. “So he came up to me and grabbed my ear … it was one of those moments that us parents live for.”